The oral argument of the day comes from INTELLECTUAL VENTURES II LLC v. ERICSSON INC., No. 2016-1803 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2017). This case is primarily an obviousness case.
Interestingly, near the end of the decision, Judge Lourie, writing for the court, added the following footnote:
The Board also instituted review of claims 1 and 2 based on a combination of six references, and later determined that the six-reference combination also rendered claims 1 and 2 unpatentable as obvious. Final Decision, 2016 WL 380219, at *11-12. Because we affirm the Board’s conclusion based on the combination of Li, Yamaura, Zhaung, and Beta, we need not, and do not, reach the second combination.
That footnote is given more context by these comments during oral argument from Judge Reyna, who was concerned with possible hindsight being applied by the PTAB when a large number of pieces from different references are combined together* [Listen] and [Listen]. To listen to similar comments by other Federal Circuit judges in other oral arguments, visit this [post].
You can listen to the entire oral argument [here].
You can read the court’s opinion [here].
*Sometimes referred to as a Frankenstein’s Monster rejection.