Failure to prove obviousness revives patent application

Description

Abstract: A patent applicant’s first round of appeals is to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). But if a patent applicant receives a negative ruling from the PTAB, it isn’t necessarily the end of the road. This brief article reviews a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals case that made this clear when it faulted the Board for failing to adequately lay out just why an invention was obvious and therefore unpatentable. In re Stepan Co., No. 16-1811, Aug. 25, 2017, Fed. Cir.