Understanding the inventive step criterion

To be patentable, the invention must not only be new, but must also involve an inventive step. An invention involves an inventive step when it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art from the opposable state of the art. The examination of the inventive step takes place before the INPI and the EPO, according to a specific reasoning (known as the "problem-solution" approach), which requires the key notions on which it is based to be defined upstream.

As such, this sheet aims to :

• clarify the concept of inventive step in terms of its justification and scope;

• define and illustrate the criteria involved in assessing inventive activity;

• present the reasoning used to examine the inventive step.