> we have a screaming obviousness problem that the Federal Circuit is right at the center of
Let me give a cite for that. From [0]:
The [Federal Circuit] watered down the rule against obvious patents. Supreme Court precedents prior to the creation of the Federal Circuit held that merely combining two previously-known technologies in a straightforward fashion was too obvious to merit patent protection. To be patent eligible, the Supreme Court held, an invention needed to be "greater than the sum of its parts."
The Federal Circuit developed a more permissive rule that only allowed a combination of known components to be declared obvious if there was specific documentation that someone had suggested that combination prior to the patent application. The court adopted this rule to guard against the danger that hindsight bias would lead people to over-estimate an idea's obviousness. But the court seemed less concerned with the possibility that some combinations are so obvious that no one would bother writing them down.
Let me give a cite for that. From [0]:
The [Federal Circuit] watered down the rule against obvious patents. Supreme Court precedents prior to the creation of the Federal Circuit held that merely combining two previously-known technologies in a straightforward fashion was too obvious to merit patent protection. To be patent eligible, the Supreme Court held, an invention needed to be "greater than the sum of its parts."
The Federal Circuit developed a more permissive rule that only allowed a combination of known components to be declared obvious if there was specific documentation that someone had suggested that combination prior to the patent application. The court adopted this rule to guard against the danger that hindsight bias would lead people to over-estimate an idea's obviousness. But the court seemed less concerned with the possibility that some combinations are so obvious that no one would bother writing them down.
[0] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/how-a-rogue-appea...