KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. et al. (550 U.S. 398)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 30, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 550 U.S. 398 · 127 S. Ct. 1727
- Decided
- April 30, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. Teleflex Incorporated and its subsidiary Technology Holding Company — both referred to here as Teleflex — sued KSR International Company for patent infringement. The patent at issue, United States Patent No. 6,237,565 Bl, is entitied “Adjustable Pedal Assembly With Electronic Throttle Control.” Supp. App. 1. The patentee is Steven J. Engelgau, and the patent is referred to as “the Engelgau patent.” Teleflex holds the exclusive license to the patent. Claim 4 of the Engelgau patent describes a mechanism for combining an electronic sensor with an adjustable automobile pedal so the pedal’s position can be transmitted to a computer that controls the throttle in the vehicle’s engine. When Teleflex accused KSR of infringing the Engelgau patent by adding an electronic sensor to one of KSR’s previously designed pedals, KSR countered that claim 4 was invalid under the Patent Act, 35 U. S. C. § 103 (2000 ed. and Supp. IV), because its subject matter was obvious. Section 103(a) forbids issuance of a patent when “the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.” In Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City, 383 U. S. 1…
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