Case: Patents/Obviousness (P.T.A.B.)

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board said that challenged claims of Volvo Penta of the Americas LLC’s patent that relates to tractor-type drives, those having forward facing propellers configured to pull a boat through the water are unpatentable as obvious over prior art, in an inter partes review by Brunswick Corp. According to the board, the challenged claims are obvious over prior art that discloses an outboard motor with a lower propeller unit than can be assembled with the propeller facing either rearward as in conventional motors or forward as a tractor-type propeller, and a propeller drive for boats, comprising ...