America-Israel Patent Law Blog

There are a few Far Side cartoons that that are not only funny but useful for illustrating basic concepts in patent law.  One of those ran today on http://www.thefarside.com: it shows a group of cavemen with animals draped over their backs, and one caveman standing off to the side holding up a flint tool, saying "Yes, with the amazing new ‘knife,’ you only have to wear the skin of those dead animals". (I provide the description because the link will expire in three days.) This is an example of both novelty (previously unknown) and non-obviousness (as evidenced, e.g. by the fact that all the but huckster are wearing entire animals, some of them live – at the very least, this knife addresses a long-pelt, er, long-felt need).