Patentability: Novelty, Inventive Step & Industrial Applicability
The Three Pillars of a Valid Patent
A deep-dive into patentability criteria under Indian, US and European law. Examines absolute vs relative novelty, the person-skilled-in-the-art standard, and how inventive step is assessed with worked examples from real prosecution histories.
Companion last updated: June 1, 2026
Key Topics
- Absolute novelty under Indian law
- Inventive step vs non-obviousness
- TSM test and Graham v. John Deere
- Industrial applicability vs utility
- Anticipation by prior use
Prompts for This Chapter
Tested AI prompts relevant to the topics covered in Chapter 2. Copy and adapt for your work.
Prior Art Distinguishing Argument Generator
Generates structured prosecution arguments to distinguish a claim from a cited prior art reference.
EPO Examination Response: Inventive Step (Article 56 EPC)
Drafts a structured inventive step argument using the EPO problem-solution approach.
Prior Art Search Strategy Generator
Generates a structured prior-art search strategy with Boolean queries for multiple databases.
Technical Prior Art Summary Generator
Summarizes a batch of prior art references to identify the state of the art for examination purposes.