8.1.2 Point at which the skilled person enters the stage

In T 1450/16 the board's view, following the conclusions drawn in T 422/93, was that the person skilled in the art within the meaning of Art. 56 EPC entered the stage only when the objective technical problem had already been formulated. Thus, the skilled person under Art. 56 EPC was the person qualified to solve the established objective technical problem (see also e.g. T 32/81, OJ 1982, 225; T 26/98; T 1523/11, T 154/17) and not necessarily the person versed in the field of the underlying application or in the field of the selected closest prior art.

The board in T 2759/17 stated however, that, in line with the established case law, the skilled person was the relevant point of reference right from the start of any inventive-step assessment.

See also the case law in chapter I.D.3.2.