Determining the Patent Eligibility of Inventions Under the New USPTO Guidelines
By Frank Amini, Ph.D. and Lekha Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D.
Under the U.S. Patent Act, one can patent “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.”[1] Common exceptions to what can be patented include laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas[2].
In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the scope of the common exceptions to what can be patented. For instance,…