Decoding Reasonable Expectation Of Success In Obviousness Determination

The Journey of Patentability – Novelty, Non-Obviousness, and the Quest for Uniqueness

In order for an invention to be patentable under the US patent regime, it must be both novel and non-obvious. Novelty, in this context, refers to whether the invention is considered to be in the "public domain" under the law. The test for novelty is defined in 35 U.S.C. §102. The invention is considered to fail this test if a single prior art reference, such as a previous patent or publication, shows the same invention.

Even if the invention is deemed novel, it must also satisfy the requirement of non-obviousness to be patentable. The test for non-obviousness is outlined in 35 U.S.C. §103, which aims to prevent the granting of patents for inventions that merely make an insignificant departure from what is already known in the prior art. An invention fails this test if a combination of two or more prior art references teaches the same invention. Since the obviousness test often