Graham v. John Deere Co.
United States Supreme Court
383 U.S. 1 (1966)
Relevant factsFree
Graham (plaintiff) sued John Deere (defendant) for infringing a patent on an improved farm plow component, with conflicting circuit rulings on the patent's validity prompting Supreme Court review, consolidated with related cases (Calmar and Colgate-Palmolive) also raising obviousness questions about a spray nozzle patent, requiring the Court to interpret the newly codified obviousness requirement in 35 U.S.C. section 103 for the first time.
IssueFree
Whether a claimed invention that is an obvious improvement over the prior art, though new and useful, is patentable.