Non-Obviousness Worksheet
A §103 non-obviousness scaffold for patent practitioners — PHOSITA, the prior-art landscape, the closest combinations, and secondary indicia. Free worksheet.
Written for patent practitioners as a work-aid. Not a substitute for professional judgment.
A structured place to capture the §103 non-obviousness reasoning a practitioner develops when drafting an application or responding to an office-action rejection: who the person of ordinary skill is, what the prior art teaches, which references an examiner might combine, and why that combination isn't obvious.
This is a capture scaffold for an attorney's own analysis — it is not legal advice, does not predict a §103 outcome, and does not draft legal argument. It mirrors the practitioner's inputs. Legal judgment stays with the practitioner.
The Template
§103 Analysis
Linked Disclosure
Optional — the invention disclosure this worksheet builds on.
PHOSITA
Describe the person of ordinary skill in the art: field, education, experience, and the tools and knowledge they'd have at the relevant date.
Prior-Art Landscape
The relevant references and what each teaches, at a level useful for combination analysis.
Uncomfortably-Close Reference Combinations
For each risky combination: reference A, reference B, optional reference C, and the combination argument an examiner might make.
Why PHOSITA Wouldn't Combine
The reasoning against the combination — no motivation to combine, teaching away, unpredictability, missing element, hindsight, or a technical barrier.
Unexpected Results
Any surprising or unexpected technical results, with evidence.
Long-Felt Need
Evidence of a long-felt but unmet need, and why prior solutions fell short.
Other Secondary Indicia
Commercial success, copying, industry praise, licensing, failure of others — the type and the supporting evidence.
Use it in the platform (coming soon)
Our platform will let you fill this in interactively from a linked disclosure and export a finished document. Until it launches, use the template above.
See the Concept Scanner.
Disclaimer. This worksheet is a practitioner work-aid for capturing an attorney's own analysis. Obviously Not is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice; this worksheet and any output are for informational and documentation purposes only, are not legal, patent, patentability, eligibility, non-obviousness, claim-scope, validity, or freedom-to-operate advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. All legal judgment, including whether and how to file or argue, remains with a licensed patent practitioner exercising independent professional judgment. Nothing here predicts an outcome at the USPTO or any court.