Chapter VII – Inventive step

A revised version of this publication entered into force.

1. General

2. State of the art; date of filing

3. Person skilled in the art

4. Obviousness

5. Problem-solution approach

6. Combining pieces of prior art

7. Combination vs. juxtaposition or aggregation

8. "Ex post facto" analysis

9. Origin of an invention

10. Secondary indicators

11. Arguments and evidence submitted by the applicant

12. Selection inventions

13. Inventive step assessment in the field of biotechnology

14. Dependent claims; claims in different categories

15. Examples

Annex – Examples relating to the requirement of inventive step – indicators