What is patentable?
35 U.S.C. § 101 – Inventions patentable
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
What is unpatentable?
UNPATENTABLE (by statute)
- Patents “directed to or encompassing a human organism”
- Tax strategy patents
- Atomic weaponry
- National security
- Medical procedures done by medical practitioners (patentable but not enforceable)
UNPATENTABLE (by court decision)
Laws of nature
- E=mc2
- Example: testing blood levels of metabolites, Mayo
Natural phenomena
- A leaf
- Example: existing genes, Myriad
Abstract ideas
- Mere algorithms
- Example: computer binary conversion, Gottschalk
- Example: business method of hedging, Bilski
- Example: using computer to hedge risks of intermediated settlement, like third-party escrow, Alice
ALICE test (page 245):
- Is patent claim directed to a patent-ineligible concept?
- If so, do additional elements nevertheless transform the nature of the claim to make it patent-eligible? Look for an inventive concept, either an element or combination of elements that ensures that the patent is significantly than a patent on the ineligible concept itself.
Posted June 20, 2017