Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Novelty and Obviousness


The most significant hurdles to overcome when considering patentability are the requirements of novelty and obviousness. While it is usually fairly straightforward to determine novelty, obviousness can be more difficult to ascertain. Although objective criteria are utilized to determine obviousness, the weighing of the objective criteria ultimately requires subjective judgement, making it impossible to accurately predict in every case which inventions will ultimately be deemed patentable by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and by the courts. 

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