CAFC Reminds Us What "Teaching Away" Means

Jore Corporation v. Kouvato, Inc. v. Home Depot U.S.A.,Inc., 04-1163.pdf, (Fed. Cir. 2005) Reversing a jury verdict that U.S. Patent No. D419,475 was not invalid, the Federal Circuit clarified that "[s]imply because a piece of prior art contains a feature that is not present in the patent does not mean that the prior art teaches away from the patent. Para-Ordnance Mfg., Inc. v. SGS Imps. Int'l, Inc., 73 F.3d. 1085, 1090 (Fed. Cir. 1995). A reference teaches away only when a person of ordinary skill, upon examining the reference, would be discouraged from following the path set out in the reference or would be led in a direction different from the path that was taken by the applicant. In re Gurley, 27 F. 3d 551, 553 (Fed. Cir. 1994)."
Non-Precedential