The inventiveness requirement in patent law

Publisher's description: 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.