Patents are a form of intellectual property that protects inventions and designs. A patent owner may prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission.
What can be patented?
The United States Supreme Court said that “anything under the sun that is made by man” may be patentable. The United States patent law (35 U.S.C. 101) states that useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, compositions of matter, and designs may be patented if they are:
- useful;
- novel; and
- nonobvious.
Usefulness
Useful means that the invention has a particular function, or achieves a particular outcome. Essentially does the invention do what you say it does? If so, the invention is probably useful, even if it wouldn’t be practical. However, don’t confuse useful with desirability. Something may be useful but necessarily in high demand.
Novelty
Novel means that the invention is new and not known to the general public prior to its conception. In other words, you can’t patent something that is already known to the public, i.e. in the public domain. If anything exists in the public, even just a single reference, that discloses every element of the invention then the invention isn’t novel.
Nonobviousness
Finally, nonobviousness means that the invention isn’t just an obvious extension of something else already known to the public. Nonobviousness does not mean that your invention is like something else or uses an existing technology, only that it wouldn’t be obvious to combine various elements together to form your invention.
Your invention may be patentable if each of these three requirements is met, namely, it is useful, novel, and nonobvious.
What cannot be patented?
While useful, novel and nonobvious inventions can be patented, the law also has other requirements that may prevent an invention from being patented. Non-patentable subject matter includes mathematical formulas, laws of nature, abstract ideas, and naturally occurring things.
- Mathematical formulas are typically not patentable because they are considered intellectual property created by humans to solve a problem or provide information in a useful way.
- Laws of nature are typically not patentable because these discoveries cannot be made by man-made processes and are instead discovered naturally through observation or experimentation.
- Abstract ideas cannot be patented because they consist only of theories that have never been put into practice and therefore have no utility or practical use whatsoever.
- Naturally occurring things cannot be patented because they are already in existence and known to the public.
Patents provide a legal monopoly for inventions and designs. If you have an invention that is useful, novel, and nonobvious you may be able to get a patent for it granting you exclusivity to make, use and sell your invention for 20 years.
Still have questions about patents? Schedule a call with a patent attorney to get your questions answered.