Expert evidence that a particular step or alteration would have been obvious to a skilled worker in the field is admissible on the issue of inventive step under s 80 of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), notwithstanding the earlier position in British Celanese Ltd v Courtaulds Ltd (1935) 52 RPC 171. Commercial success of a patented product is not of itself proof of inventive step; the applicant bears the evidentiary onus of showing that commercial success is an indicium of inventive merit, and must demonstrate that the success was due to having overcome some defect in the prior art where the need for a solution was long felt.
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