Who is the craftsman?
Understanding the inventive step criterion

The condition of inventive step involves a reference standard, the person skilled in the art; it is in his eyes that the obviousness of the invention is assessed. This is a fictional character who embodies an average level of skill. He is a normally competent man of the art, i.e. a qualified specialist in the field under consideration, but of average quality. It can also be defined as a team of several professionals from the same specialty ( TGI Paris 05/12/2014, RG n° 12/13507 ) or from different specialties ( CA Paris 12/01/2016, RG n° 13/13050 ).

The person skilled in the art has at his disposal the general knowledge,...