MPEP Section 1878.01(a)(2), Inventive Step **>for Purposes of the Written Opinion and the International Preliminary Examination Report<
Executive summary:
This document contains Section 1878.01(a)(2) ("Inventive Step **>for Purposes of the Written Opinion and the International Preliminary Examination Report< ") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.
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1878.01(a)(2) Inventive Step **>for Purposes of the Written Opinion and the International Preliminary Examination Report< [R-2]
Inventive step is defined in PCT Article 33(3).
PCT ARTICLE 33
The International Preliminary Examination
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(3) For purposes of the international preliminary examination, a claimed invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step if, having regard to the prior art as defined in the Regulations, it is not, at the prescribed relevant date, obvious to a person skilled in the art.
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PCT RULE 65
Inventive Step or Non-Obviousness
PCT RULE 65.1.
Approach to Prior Art
For the purposes of Article 33(3), the international preliminary examination shall take into consideration the relation of any particular claim to the prior art as a whole. It shall take into consideration the claim's relation not only to individual documents or parts thereof taken separately but also its relation to combinations of such documents or parts of documents, where such combinations are obvious to a person skilled in the art.
PCT RULE 65.2.
Relevant Date
For the purposes of Article 33(3), the relevant date for the consideration of inventive step (non-obviousness) is the date prescribed in Rule 64.1.
>The above provisions apply mutatis mutandis to the written opinion of the International Searching Authority. See PCT Rule 43bis.1(b).<