What is the significance of ‘expected beneficial results’ in patent examination?

‘Expected beneficial results’ play a crucial role in patent examination. According to MPEP 716.02(c):

‘Expected beneficial results are evidence of obviousness of a claimed invention, just as unexpected results are evidence of unobviousness thereof.’

This means that:

• If the results obtained by the invention are expected or predictable, they support a finding of obviousness.
• Such results do not overcome a strong prima facie case of obviousness.
• Examiners must consider whether the claimed invention produces expected beneficial results when evaluating patentability.

To learn more:

• expected results
• patent examination
• obviousness
• beneficial results