Patent suit against Canadian firm could rewrite U.S. law

A patent dispute between a Canadian auto parts maker and the U.S. company suing it could rewrite American patent law as the U.S. Supreme Court considers what constitutes an 'obvious' invention.

Teleflex, Inc., of Limerick, Pa., is suing KSR International Inc. of Ridgetown, Ont. — about 100 kilometres east of Windsor — over a claim that the Canadian company infringed on a gas pedal design that KSR says simply combines existing technologies.