Key points
- “The selection of an appropriate starting point in the assessment of inventive step is an objective exercise carried out by the deciding body applying the established criteria. ...The board therefore concurs with the findings in T 1450/16 (reasons 2.1.4) and T 0855/15 (reasons 8.2) to the extent that it is not the person skilled in the art that selects a suitable starting point, and in particular the closest prior art document, in the assessment of inventive step. Against this background, in the board's view, the question of who is the competent skilled person is irrelevant at least as regards the selection of a suitable document as a starting point in the assessment of inventive step, because it is not the notional skilled person within the meaning of Article 56 EPC that selects the appropriate starting point.”
- The Board in fact carefully discusses who the skilled person is in a later step of the problem-solution approach.
- The Board, after carefully reviewing the content of D7,: “Although document D7 and the subject-matter of claim 1 are described in terms of different types of power transmission systems (AC, DC), they are thus both concerned with the same subject-matter and serve the same purpose, which clearly qualifies D7 as a suitable starting point in the assessment of inventive step of the subject-matter of claim 1.”
- “The board has therefore arrived at the conclusion that document D7 is a suitable starting point in the assessment of inventive step and the appellant's sole objection under Articles 100(a) and 56 EPC based on this document thus had to be taken into account in the appeal procedure.”
- The Board then formulates the objective technical problem and, before turning to obviousness, discusses who the skilled person is.
- This seems a logical order of steps to me.
- “In view of the objective technical problem, the board considers the competent skilled person in the relevant technical field to be an expert in power transmission systems, who typically is a graduate engineer in electrical engineering or physics with focus on protection systems such as circuit breakers, who has several years of practical experience as a developer in industry. The competent skilled person consequently not only has a broad knowledge in AC power transmission systems but also in (HV)DC transmission systems including circuit breakers for these types of applications. ... In this context, it is further to be noted that the technical fields of circuit breakers for AC and DC systems are so closely related that a clear boundary between the respective competent notional skilled persons within the meaning of Article 56 EPC cannot be clearly drawn anyway.”
- The Board finds claim 1 to be obvious.
source http://justpatentlaw.blogspot.com/2021/12/t-124118-it-is-not-person-skilled-in.html
