Supreme Court Rules on Important Patent Case, Expert Lawyers Can Comment

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 30, 2007 -- The U.S. Supreme Court issued a key patent law ruling today in KSR International Co. v Teleflex, Inc. In the case, the Court overturned a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) concerning whether a patent held by Teleflex was obvious in view of the prior art.

After a U.S. District Court had found on summary judgment that Teleflex's patent was obvious, the CAFC reversed the District Court's ruling, holding that the patent challenger, KSR, had failed to show that there existed some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the art that would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to combine several prior art references to yield the claimed invention.

The Supreme Court found that the CAFC had taken too narrow a view of how an invention can be shown to have been obvious in view of the prior art, criticizing the CAFC for allowing "[r]igid preventative rules [to] deny factfinders recourse to common sense." The case involved a dispute over an adjustable accelerator pedal for cars and trucks, and the Supreme Court concluded the claimed invention by Teleflex, Inc. was obvious.

Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C. has top patent-law experts, such as Bob Abrahamsen, who can offer expert commentary on the case.

Wolf Greenfield in Boston (www.wolfgreenfield.com) is one of the most experienced law firms specializing in intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing and related litigation.

Contact Information: Contact: Henry Stimpson Stimpson Communications 508-647-0705 Henry@StimpsonCommunications.com Sara Crocker Wolf Greenfield 617-573-7831 scrocker@wolfgreenfield.com