Section 103 (U.S. Patent Act)

Section 103 of the U.S. Patent Act addresses the issue of obviousness in patent law. It stipulates that a patent cannot be granted if the invention would have been obvious to someone skilled in the relevant field at the time it was made, based on existing prior art (previous inventions, publications, or knowledge). Essentially, even if an invention is new, it must also involve an inventive step that isn’t obvious to ensure it warrants patent protection. This clause helps prevent granting patents for ideas that are simply predictable combinations of known technology.