Obviousness under patent law is judged at the time of the invention. Most (all?) inventions would have eventually being discovered by someone else. Patents are the reward for getting there first.<p>Chinese companies ignore patent letters and suits because they are essentially immune from US courts as long as they stay under the radar and don&#x27;t sell directly in the USA.<p>&gt; I mean how do you patent a &quot;board on a rolling pin&quot;???<p>You can reduce any invention to a couple word summary that seems absurd.<p>The transistor is &quot;just&quot; an amplifier.