Philips v. Google & Microsoft (Fed. Cir. 2020)

Source: https://patentlyo.com/patent/2020/01/federal-obviousness-knowledge.html

 The implication here is that “general knowledge” is not “prior art” but instead part of the definition of PHOSITA under Graham.

Id.

General Knowledge: A primary case in tension with broad use of general knowledge is Arendi S.A.R.L. v. Apple Inc., 832 F.3d 1355, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2016).  In that case, the court warned against invoking “common sense . . . to supply a limitation that was admittedly missing from the prior art” and that was not “supported by evidence and reasoned explanation.”  On appeal here, the Federal Circuit distinguished Arendi — holding that Google’s argument for general knowledge was supported by evidence and reason: 

Id.