Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
I

In re Oetiker

977 F.2d 1443, 24 U.S.P.Q.2d 1443 (1992)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Oetiker

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
977 F.2d 1443, 24 U.S.P.Q.2d 1443 (1992)

Facts

Hans Oetiker had a patent on a stepless, earless metal hose clamp. Oetiker later applied for a patent on an improvement that added a preassembly hook to the same device. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) referred to the previous Oetiker patent in conjunction with another patent that described a plastic hook for use in garments. The PTO determined that the two patents in combination rendered the improvement obvious and rejected the application. Oetiker appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, arguing that a person of ordinary skill in the mechanical field would not have looked to the garment industry for the solution that his improvement was intended to provide.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Newman, J.)

Concurrence (Nies, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Patent

Key Terms