“That’s precisely the point, counselor!” Roma spun toward her, all pretense of professional distance evaporating. “Transformations by transformers are well-known to be mere combinations, assemblies, or gradients of existing elements - nothing truly creative or inventive!”

“That’s not substantiated by any case law!” Juniper hurled back, color rising in her cheeks. “You’re presenting political opinion to an impressionable jury!”

“Just as you’re trying to equate throttle bodies and dog boxes with constitutional rights?” Roma’s pitch rose an octave, his hands painting elaborate patterns in the air.

Their voices crashed together like waves in a storm:

“The KSR precedent doesn’t even concern.. ”

“If you’d let me finish about the regulatory.. ”

“ORDER!” Judge Donahue’s gavel cracked like rifle fire. “ORDER IN THIS COURT!”

“My apologies, Your Honor,” Roma quickly interjected. “It’s just that Ms. Valenca is using her examiner abilities to confuse our international visitors and jurors. My concerns lie with code ownership…” He paused, a dangerous glimmer entering his eyes. “Though I must say, she’s quite remarkable at these technical parallels. She could probably convince the Supreme Court that equipment from Apple Spas constitutes prior art based on some pocket hole jig repurposed for helping someone pull their slack out…”

Roma’s hands animated as his thoughts seemed to race ahead of his mouth. “Or perhaps.. ” His eyes suddenly lit up with manic glee, like someone who’d just solved a puzzle. “That an hourglass sand timer thingy could be prior art because she herself exists ya know!” He bounced slightly on his heels, almost giddy with his own impromptu analogy. His fingers counted in the air as he side-eyed Juniper with barely contained delight. “You know like… thirty-six… twenty-four…”