State of the art
The state of the art (SOTA, sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or
The term has been used since 1910, and has become both a common term in
.In advertising, the phrase is often used to convey that a product is made with the best or latest available technology, but it has been noted that "the term 'state of the art' requires little proof on the part of advertisers", as it is considered mere puffery.[1] The use of the term in patent law "does not connote even superiority, let alone the superlative quality the ad writers would have us ascribe to the term".[2]
Origin and history
The concept of the "state of the art" originated at the beginning of the 20th century.[3] The earliest use of the term "state of the art" documented by the Oxford English Dictionary dates back to 1910, from an engineering manual by Henry Harrison Suplee (1856 – after 1943), an engineering graduate (University of Pennsylvania, 1876), titled The Gas Turbine: Progress in the Design and Construction of Turbines Operated by Gases of Combustion. The relevant passage reads: "In the present state of the art this is all that can be done".[4] The term "art" refers to technics, rather than performing or fine arts.[5]
Over time, use of the term increased in all fields where this kind of art has a significant role.[6] In this relation it has been quoted by the author that "although eighteenth-century writers did not use the term, there was indeed in existence a collection of scientific and engineering knowledge and expertise that can be identified as the state of the art for that time".[6]
Despite its actual meaning, which does not convey technology that is ahead of the industry, the phrase became so widely used in advertising that a 1985 article described it as "overused", stating that "[it] has no punch left and actually sounds like a lie".[7] A 1994 essay listed it among "the same old tired clichés" that should be avoided in advertising.[8]
Legal importance
Patent law
In the context of European and Australian patent law, the term "state of the art" is a concept used in the process of assessing and asserting novelty and inventive step,[9] and is a synonym of the expression "prior art".[10] In the European Patent Convention (EPC), "[t]he state of the art shall be held to comprise everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the European patent application" according to Article 54(2) EPC. Due account should be taken of Article 54(3) EPC as well, but merely for the examination of novelty.
The expression "background art" is also used in certain legal provisions, such as Rule 42(1)(b) and(c) EPC (previously Rule 27(1)(b) and (c) EPC 1973), and has the same meaning.[11]
Tort liability
The state of the art is important in the law of
The state-of-the-art defense allows a defendant to be absolved of liability if he can prove that the state of technical and scientific knowledge, at the time when he put the product into circulation, was not such as to enable the existence of the defect to be discovered. The Directive allows Member States to eliminate the state-of-the-art defense, but only Luxembourg, which has little manufacturing industry, has done so.[15]
In the United States, the state of an industry is "merely evidence of due care rather than a controlling factor",[16] but a number of states have state-of-the-art statutes that "make a manufacturer's compliance with technological feasibility an absolute defense to a products liability suit".[16] Because the state of the art is constantly advancing, the ability of manufacturers to claim that their products are "state-of-the-art" tracks their potential liability when these products are defective. As an industry magazine explained in 1984:
Remote control rear view mirrors, disc brakes, automatic slack adjusters for drum brakes and sealed lighting systems are just a few examples of products that have advanced the state of the art. When one of these gains a degree of industry acceptance, it begins to bridge a legal gap between what is state of the art from a design standpoint, and what is state of the art from a usage standpoint. This could place a carrier in a vulnerable position in the not too distant future.[17]
See also
- Bleeding edge
- Emerging technologies (List of emerging technologies)
- Innovation
- Luxury goods
- Proof of concept
References
- ISBN 978-1-4786-4691-4.
- ^ Smith, Jack (15 June 1988). "Is 'State of the Art' Patently Ill Defined?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ISSN 1807-5193. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ Suplee, Henry Harrison (1910). The Gas Turbine: Progress in the Design and Construction of Turbines Operated by Gases of Combustion. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 6.
- ^ George Washington used the term in a letter to Lafayette (29 January 1798). Washington distinguished commerce from useful arts by stating, "While our commerce has been considerably curtailed, for want of that extensive credit formerly given in Europe, and for default of remittance; the useful arts have been almost imperceptibly pushed to a considerable degree of perfection". Fitzpatrick, John C., ed. (1939). The Writings of Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. Vol. 30. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. p. 186. Other literary sources are collected in the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Supplemental Brief in In re Bilski, p. 11 n.4 (useful arts are manufacturing processes).
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-66955-9.
- ^ Executive (1985), Vol. 27, p. 56.[full citation needed]
- ISBN 978-1-60950-017-7.
- ^ Under the European Patent Convention: Article 54 EPC and Article 56 EPC.
- ISBN 978-81-89542-31-3.
The European Patent Convention uses the term 'state of the art' which is equivalent to prior art
- ^ "T 0011/82 (Control Circuit) of 15.4.1983". European Patent Office. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
Headnote II. The expression 'background art' used in the English text of Rule 27(1)(c) and (d) EPC must have the same meaning as the more familiar expression 'prior art'.
- ISBN 978-0-07-011316-9.
- ISBN 978-0-87263-870-9.
- ISBN 978-90-411-2261-2.
- ISBN 978-90-5095-229-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-539191-6.
- ISSN 0734-1423.
External links
- Regarding the patent law concept, see for example:
- Guidelines for Examination in the EPO, section g-iv : "State of the art"
- Legal Research Service for the Boards of Appeal, European Patent Office, Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO (9th edition, July 2019), i.c.2 : "State of the art"