"I"m just a regular everyday normal guy"

InPrecisely third Friday = precisely 300 words

Jon Lajoie’s “Everyday Normal Guy” assesses normalcy:

“When I go to the clubs, I wait in line mother….”

“I got six hundred dollars in the bank mother….”

“If you’re not paid well put yo hands up….”

Many essential workers are not paid well.

Teachers. Baristas. Patent examiners.

Examiners are skilled civil servants assigned to windowless offices.

But, patent examiners do get free metaphysical time travel.

Examiners have four tasks with a new patent application.

First – enabling disclosure. Does the specification enable Mr. PHOSITA to make and use the invention?

Second – utility. Is the invention useful?

Third – novelty. Is the invention absolutely new – anywhere in the world?

Fourth – non-obviousness. Is the invention non-obvious to Mr. PHOSITA?

This is where the metaphysical time travel comes in – fun times.

Examiners have expertise.

But to determine non-obviousness, examiners pretend to be a regular everyday normal guy – Mr. PHOSITA, a “person having ordinary skill in the art”.

Mr. PHOSITA determines the scope of the global technology search.

Then the examiner – omnisciently – locates all prior art in that scope.

Then the examiner asks Mr. PHOSITA to time travel: “Pretend today is the filing date – you only understand today what you understood then.”

Mr. PHOSITA is shown the vast prior art collection.

Mr. PHOSITA takes his time, reading every disclosure and understanding them as he would have, given Mr. PHOSITA’s experiences, as presumed by the examiner.

Then the examiner asks herself as Mr. PHOSITA: “Given that, whither this?”

Only if the prior art does not suggest the invention to Mr. PHOSITA – do the claims issue, even though the examiner might, subjectively, see the claims as obvious.

Imagine a job where you get to be a younger, less sophisticated version of yourself – free to read and think and wonder what inspires you.

Of course the pay is bad.