The question on severability was whether the reasonable restriction could be enforced when it was in the same contract as an unreasonable and unenforceable restriction. The court used the test of whether striking out (with a blue pencil) words containing unreasonable provisions would leave behind a contractual obligation that still made sense.
The question of severability centered on whether a reasonable restriction could coexist with an unreasonable and unenforceable clause. The court's method involved assessing if deleting (with a blue pencil) words containing unreasonable stipulations would leave a contract with a sensible obligation intact.