Whether the Supreme Court's Characterisation of Non-obviousness on the Federal Circuit's Judicial Creativity? An Analysis of Post KSR decisions

Abstract

The Teaching-Suggestion-Motivation test to determine non-obviousness which was widely used by the Federal Circuit faced a serious challenge in 2007 when the US Supreme Court disapproved Federal Circuit's rigid application of such test in the landmark case of KSR v. Teleflex. However subsequent decisions of Federal Circuit have proved that it has been using the test in some way or the other. This write-up examines the judicial creativity demonstrated by the Federal Circuit in questions dealing with non-obviousness and has special focus on all pharma-related patent disputes which came before it during the relevant period.