What is a non-obviousness rejection?

A non-obviousness rejection is a situation in which a patent examiner rejects a patent application because the invention in question is not significantly different from prior art. This means that the invention is so similar to what has already been invented that it is not considered to be an innovation. In other words, the invention is not considered to be “non-obvious”. In Utah, patent applications are subject to examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO has rules in place to determine whether a patent application should be granted, and one of these rules is the non-obviousness requirement. Patent examiners use this requirement to evaluate patent applications and determine whether the invention is significantly different from prior art in order to determine if it should be granted a patent. If a patent examiner finds that the invention is not significantly different from prior art, they will reject the patent application on the grounds of non-obviousness. In this case, the inventor must prove that the invention is novel and non-obvious compared to what has been done before in order to have their patent application granted. This typically requires the inventor to show that their invention is unique and has a practical benefit that was not previously available.

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What is a non-obviousness rejection?

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