In patent examination procedure and patent invalidation procedure, words or
comments such as "common knowledge in the art",
"customary means in the art" and "conventional
technical means in the art" are used frequently, which
confused the patent applicant or patentee, or patent attorney, and they are confused how to
distinguish these words, and how to deal with these comments. This
article is intended to clarify the concepts and applicable
environments of the above words for reference by the relevant
persons.
1. Provisions of the Guidelines for Patent Examination on common
knowledge
According to the Guidelines for Patent Examination, the fourth
chapter of the second part, with regard to the inventive step
judgment method provided that, "said distinguishing feature
is common knowledge, for example, a customary
means in the art for solving the redetermined technical
problem, or a technical means for solving the redetermined
technical problem disclosed in a
