Objective Indicia: Nexus Analysis May Require Evaluation Of Claims As A "Unique Combination"

Holding

In Chemours Company FC, LLC v. Daikin Industries, Ltd., Nos. 20-1289, -1290 (Fed. Cir. July 22, 2021), a CAFC panel held that the PTAB ("Board") erred when it found no nexus existed between the claimed invention and evidence of alleged commercial success because the Board only considered the claim features separately and failed to consider that it was the "unique combination" of the claimed features that accounted for the commercial success.

Background

To accord substantial weight to evidence of objective indicia of nonobviousness, such as commercial success, the evidence must have a "nexus" to the claimed invention. Id. at *12. Put another way, once it is shown that there is a legally and factually sufficient connection between the evidence and the patented invention, it may be presumed that the commercial success of the product is attributed to the patented invention. Id. at *13. This presumption, however, is rebuttable, and a patent challenger may