But here's what more court watchers had to say…

Solveig Singleton of the Progress & Freedom Foundation said the court, which ruled in favor of KSR, "reached the right result." "The case is on the right track in paving the road for a more stringent standard of non-obviousness," she said.

Congress should exercise caution in the wake of the decision, Singleton said. "Rather than tackling the statutory standard of obviousness directly, address the better-understood institutional and legal process issues," she said. More circuit courts should hear patent appeals to give the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit some feedback, she said.

The Computer and Communications Industry Association also hailed the KSR ruling. The "non-obviousness" standard had been eroded by lower courts and, as a result, "junk patents" thrive, the group said. According to CCIA President Ed Black, the ruling reaffirms what his group has long insisted -- that "the patent system’s purpose is to promote innovation, not patents."