Cripps question

proper noun

A legal test as to whether an invention is obvious, based on whether a skilled person with existing knowledge could have invented it as a matter of routine.

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Meanings

proper nounthe Cripps question
  1. intellectual propertyA legal test as to whether an invention is obvious, based on whether a skilled person with existing knowledge could have invented it as a matter of routine.

Origin

Posed in the 1920s by Stafford Cripps in a British patent case about n-hexyl resorcinol, Sharp & Dohme Inc v Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd.

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Cite this entry
APA

Cripps question. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cripps%20question

MLA

“Cripps question.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cripps%20question. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cripps question,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cripps%20question.

Source: Cripps question on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.