35 U.S.C. §103

35 U.S.C. §103 is a key section of United States patent law that governs the concept of obviousness. Under this statute, a patent claim may be rejected if the differences between the claimed invention and prior art are such that the invention as a whole would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time the invention was made.

Unlike 35 U.S.C. §102, which addresses novelty using a single prior art reference, §103 allows the patent examiner to combine multiple references to argue that the claimed invention lacks an inventive step. Obviousness rejections are among the most common challenges faced during patent prosecution and require careful analysis and response.

To learn more, see 103 Rejections.