<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> <P> 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 . </P> <P> In the United States, in those states that follow the common law, the state of an industry is "merely evidence of due care rather than a controlling factor", 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". 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 journal explained in the 1980s: </P>

What is the acronym for the new fine arts standards