The quote for the day comes from Cheese Systems, Inc. v. Tetra Pak Cheese and Powder Sys., Inc., 725 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2013):
Among the difficult challenges of applying the doctrine of obviousness is avoidance of even a hint of hindsight. Obviousness “cannot be based on the hindsight combination of components selectively culled from the prior art to fit the parameters of the patented invention.” ATD Corp. v. Lydall, Inc., 159 F.3d 534, 546 (Fed.Cir.1998). In this regard, objective evidence operates as a beneficial check on hindsight. As the court recently explained in describing these “essential components” of the obviousness analysis:
Objective evidence of nonobviousness can include copying, long felt but unsolved need, failure of others, commercial success, unexpected results created 1353*1353 by the claimed invention, unexpected properties of the claimed invention, licenses showing industry respect for the invention, and skepticism of skilled artisans before the invention. These objective considerations can protect against the prejudice of hindsight bias, which often overlooks that “[t]he genius of invention is often a combination of known elements which in hindsight seems preordained.” McGinley v. Franklin Sports, Inc., 262 F.3d 1339, 1351 (Fed. Cir.2001).
Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc., 711 F.3d 1348, 1368 (Fed.Cir.2013) (citations omitted).