Patentable Subject Matter -- § 101

Patentable | |

Utility -- § 101

Novelty -- § 102

Non-obvious -- § 103

Disclosure Req. – § 112

Patents – § 101

•  “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.” 35 U.S.C. § 101

•  Broad; permissive approach •  Threshold test; “coarse filter” •  Essentially a policy question; balance

Patents – § 101 -- Exceptions

•  Three judicial exceptions (Not patentable subject matter) •  laws of nature •  physical phenomena •  abstract ideas

•  These exceptions are “part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men . . . free to all men and reserved exclusively to none.” (Funk Brothers)

Patents – § 101 – Living Things

•  What about living things? (Chakrabarty)

•  Key is whether human made • human engineered bacteria • found bacteria • new process for creating bacteria

NO YES

YES

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Machine-or-Transformation approach

•  tied to a particular machine or apparatus • OR transforms a particular article into a

different state or thing

•  M-or-T not exclusive test (Bilski) •  allow application of abstract idea • worry about preemption

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Ultramercial v. Hulu

NOT ABSTRACT

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Cybersource v. Retail (Fed. Cir. 2011)

ABSTRACT

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Dealertracker v. Huber (Fed. Cir. 2011)

ABSTRACT

Patents – § 101 -- Exceptions

•  Three judicial exceptions (Not patentable subject matter) •  laws of nature •  physical phenomena •  abstract ideas

•  These exceptions are “part of the storehouse of knowledge of all men . . . free to all men and reserved exclusively to none.” (Funk Brothers)

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Again, what’s the concern?

Claim 1 in Ultramercial

Ad for access to media product on Internet

Downstream invention – improve by changing ad length compared to value of media product

+ change length based on value

•  What is the abstract idea?

•  Do claims preempt?

Patents – § 101 – Abstract Ideas •  Looking for some limitations capture of

abstract idea by one inventor • Ultramerical – Internet; media products

•  But watch out for de facto preemption over abstract idea • Cybersource and Dealertracker –

software, computers, internet address, only mental steps

•  Can use Machine-or-Transformation approach, but not final answer

Patents – § 101 – Laws of Nature •  Not invented, simply found •  Prometheus v. Mayo (at S.Ct.)

Application and transformation

•  Do claims preempt any use of law of nature?

Patents – § 101 – Laws of Nature •  Prometheus v. Mayo (at S.Ct.)

Application and transformation