Known Elements Alone Held Not Sufficient To Show Motivation For Combination Invention

In Virtek Vision International ULC v. Assembly Guidance Systems, Inc.,¹ the Federal Circuit held that known arrangements alone are insufficient to show a motivation to combine.

Virtek Vision International ULC (Virtek) appealed an inter partes review final written decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) holding claims of U.S. Patent No. 10,052,734 ('734 patent) are unpatentable. Virtek owned the '734 patent, which described an improved method for aligning a laser projector by projecting a template image on a work surface, and calibrating the relative position between the work surface and the laser projector. The '734 patent related to an improved two-part alignment method. First, a non-laser light source flashed a light to determine the pattern of targets on the work surface. Then, a laser beam scanned and calculated the precise location of the targets to determine where the laser projector would project the laser template image.² Claim 1 recited the