The Inventiveness Requirement in Patent Law: An Exploration of Its Foundations and Functioning

The Inventiveness Requirement in Patent Law provides a broad and historical perspective on the inventiveness concept in patent law. This groundbreaking work lays a very thorough conceptual basis for further and more in-depth discussions on current standards of inventiveness. Although the pivotal role of the inventiveness requirement in patent law is broadly accepted, it has long remained an ill-defined concept. The question that is often raised in current debates is whether the requirement is capable of functioning as an adequate ’gate-keeper.’ Using a methodology guided by geography and chronology, the author weaves together developments in numerous countries -- focusing primarily on the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands -- into a full-scale analysis of the inventiveness concept