The Guidelines for Patent Examination (hereinafter referred to as the examination guidelines) introduce the concept of "common knowledge" in determining the inventive step of a claimed invention.

Xiaohui Wu of Wanhuida Intellectual Property reports on a ruling by the Supreme People’s Court of China that emphasises that the determination of common knowledge in the assessment of inventiveness ...

When Charles Darwin encountered native peoples of South America during his famous trip around the world on the HMS Beagle, he saw them as people – literally (see Eldredge, 2010). You see, other ...