For example, the laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas cannot be patented, nor can only an idea or suggestion. Other restrictions include the patenting of inventions exclusively related to nuclear material or atomic energy in an atomic weapon (see MPEP 2104.01).
Some things that cannot be patented include: "disembodied ideas, concepts or discoveries" "scientific principles and abstract theorems" "methods of medical treatment or surgery" "higher life forms" "forms of energy" "features of solely intellectual or aesthetic significance" "printed matter"
To be patentable, an invention must be of an allowable subject matter in the form of an art, process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or an improvement to any of these. Moreover, the invention described and claimed must be reduced to a practical form and must not be a disembodied idea or concept.
Legally, a utility patent may cover “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” A design patent may cover “any new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture,” and a plant patent may cover a “distinct and new variety of ...
Patents are legal rights issued to inventors to protect their inventions for a certain time, usually 20 years. 3 They exclude others from reproducing, using, or profiting from it without the expressed permission of the patent owner.
Some things that can't be patented include: disembodied ideas, concepts or discoveries. scientific principles and abstract theorems. methods of medical treatment or surgery.
Although the U.S. allows entire plants to be patented, Canada does not. In Monsanto Canada Inc v Schmeiser, the SCC outlines a clear distinction between the uniqueness of a plant (potentially PBR eligible) versus the innovative production or technique associated with the life form (potentially patentable).
Patents have been used in their modern definition since the 1500s to provide inventors the exclusive right to produce and sell their inventions. Some famous examples of products that have been patented include: The Telephone: Patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The Lightbulb: Patented in 1878 by Thomas Edison.
So, for a patent to be issued, your invention must meet four conditions: Able to be used (the invention must work and cannot just be a theory) A clear description of how to make and use the invention. New, or “novel” (something not done before) “Not obvious,” as related to a change to something already invented.