1. A pattern inspection method, comprising the steps of: a) recognizing an actual pattern image of an object to be inspected including an auxiliary pattern in a periphery of a pattern; b) deleting the image of said auxiliary pattern from the recognized image and producing an auxiliary-pattern-image-deleted recognized image; c) producing an inspection image for inspection, from design data from which the auxiliary pattern is removed; and d) comparing said auxiliary-pattern-image-deleted recognized image with said inspection image.