What is 'inventive step'?

What is 'inventive step'?

Matt Dixon (Partner) gives expert video advice on: What is an 'invention'?; Can I tell anyone about my invention?; If I invent something do I have to patent it before I make or sell it? and more...

An 'inventive step' is the additional test that you have to show, in addition to novelty, to be able to get a patent. It's not enough that your invention is new. It has to be sufficiently different from what has gone before, and that it warrants a patent. The test is that it has to be not obvious to do what you've done in view of everything that was known before. This is a legal test, and you can get good advice from a patent attorney about how to meet this requirement.