United States Federal Circuit
Wyers v. Master Lock Co., 09-1412
In an action for infringement of patents related to hitch pin locks that secure trailers to cars and sport utility vehicles, a jury finding that defendant failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that the certain claim of the patents at issue would have been obvious, and district court's denial of defendant's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law are reversed where: 1) it was a matter of common sense to combine the prior art, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success in doing so; and 2) where the inventions represented no more than the predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions, the secondary considerations are inadequate to establish nonobviousness as a matter of law.
Appellate Information
- Decided 07/22/2010
- Published 07/22/2010
Judges
Court
- United States Federal Circuit
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Mark Lee Hogge, Aldo Noto