Obviousness of Combining Equivalents Together for Same Known Purpose

13 OBVIOUSNESS OF COMBINING EQUIVALENTS TOGETHER FOR SAME KNOWN PURPOSE 

As a general matter, it is within the realm of one of ordinary skill in the art to combine compounds, compositions, materials, etc., where those compounds are known for the same purpose. The motivation and expectation are that the combination will be similarly useful in the additive sense. This is clearly laid out in In re Crockett, resulting from an appeal of claims rejected by the USPTO 121 The claims in question were directed to methods and materials related to the casting of steel. The composition claim 96 is reproduced below. 

A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and an analgesically effective amount of  

In finding the claims invalid for obviousness on summary judgment, the District Court had held  

The prior art expressly teaches one of ordinary skill in the art to combine an opioid with an NSAID.123 Furthermore, based on the prior art, a person of ordinary skill in the art of pain management would have had a reasonable expectation of success in combining hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic, with ibuprofen, an NSAID. 

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