"Patently" in this context is synonymous with "obvious" so this essentially translates to "obviously obvious". I've heard this particular turn of phrase crop up fairly often – ironically often in academic circles – to the point where I've become baffled at how and why people seem to consider it a perfectly valid expression when it's patently redundant. (Sorry couldn't resist!) Could someone please explain?
Learn English – Isn’t the expression “patently obvious” a tautology
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Old post, but thought I'd join in. For info: I work in Intellectual Property as a Patent Examiner.
The term patently obvious may stem from original intellectual property discussions.
When someone applies for a Patent one of the hurdles they must get over in order for the Patent application to be granted is that it must be inventive, i.e. whatever the supposed invention is must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art compared to what is already known.
In patent examination reports of present and presumably of old, the term 'obvious' is therefore used with a fair amount of frequency when objecting to a claim for an invention in the application.
As such if something were 'patently obvious', it is a particular type of obvious that would not overcome the 'obvious test' used by Patent examiners in assessing an invention. In other words something that is patently obvious is something that is very much within sight given everything else around.