Threshold Test For Inventive Step For Standard Patent Applications
The Australian Patent Office has amended its examination procedure of standard patent applications regarding inventive step.
Where the patent application relates to the solving of a problem, being either a problem that is recognized in the art or a problem that is reasonably inferred from the specification, the examiner will consider the question:
“Would the person skilled in the art (in all the circumstances) directly be led as a matter of course to try the claimed invention in the expectation that it might well produce a solution to the problem?”
These amendments are consistent with the decision in Aktiebolaget Hassle & Anor v Alphapharm Pty Limited (2003) AIPC 91-838.
