Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Utah
Is This Patentable?
Suppose the automobile had been invented 30
years ago. Since then, automobile headlights
have all been run exclusively by burning acetylene
gas. Three years ago, Thomas Edison invented
the electric light bulb, which he has used
exclusively indoors. My idea is to use the light bulb
to replace the gas lamps in automobiles. I can
show that this idea is Safer, More Reliable, and
Less Expensive to Install, Maintain, and to Run.
My question: Is the idea of replacing gas lamps
with electric bulbs patentable? If so, is it clearly
patentable or only possibly patentable?
Thank You for Any Help
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is This Patentable?
Possibly patentable.
The key to understanding this is to recognize that all inventions are improvements, since they all make use of things that were already known. Edison would be the first to admit this. Among his 1093 patents were mostly minor technical advances that collectively changed the world. He had 70+ patents on the basic phonograph alone. He tended to try to patent every minor improvement to keep ahead of his competition.
The test you have to meet that set by 35 USC 103 that the combination, even though new, must not be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the applicable art. So, if despite the co-existence of the gas heatlight and electric buld, no one would have found it obvious to put replace the gas headlight with an electric one, then it would be patentable.
That said, the safety advantages of an electric headlamp over a gas headlight are apparent by hindsight, but the test must be made at the time of the invention. It probably would have been obvious, but not necessarily.
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