<P> 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 "(i) t has no punch left and actually sounds like a lie". A 1994 essay listed it among "the same old tired clichés" that should be avoided in advertising . </P> <P> 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, and is a synonym of the expression "prior art". In the European Patent Convention (EPC), "(the) 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> The state of the art is important in the law of tort liability, specifically in the areas of negligence and products liability . With respect to negligence, "an engineer may defend against a claim of negligence by contending that he met the standards of his profession and the state of the art". With respect to products liability, manufacturers generally have strict liability for any injury caused by defects in their products . However, in some jurisdictions a manufacturer may raise as a legal defense the assertion that their product represents the "state of the art", and that the manufacturer therefore could not have made the product any safer in light of the knowledge available at the time . For example, "(u) nder German law, the producer can also raise the state of the art defense: general tort law does not hold him liable if he could not know or discover the defect for lack of fault, and the Product Liability Statute expressly provides for this defense". This defense is available throughout the European Community under the Product Liability Directive, art . 7 (e). Pursuant to this article: </P>

Where did state of the art come from