In T 896/92 the board emphasised that, in accordance with T 169/83 (OJ 1985, 193), further conditions were required as to the disclosure of a feature shown solely in a drawing. In this respect, not only should the structure of the feature be shown sufficiently clearly in the drawing, but also the technical function achieved should be derivable (see also T 241/88).

After establishing what information forms part of the state of the art, the next step is to determine its technical content and whether that content is apparent.