| · What can be Patented? Most inventions can, and need to be patented in order to sell them for profit. There are a few exceptions to what can be patented however.
If you come up with an invention that has already been patented, but the orignal patent rights have expired over a hundred years ago, can you patent it? No! If your invention has ever been patented in the past, it is not patentable ever again.
If your invention is public knowledge for more than a year, it is not patentable. If your invention is public for any amount of time, it may be rendered unpatentable over seas.
If your invention is designed to perform a specific task, but actually doesn't do it, your invention is unpatentable. The USPTO has determined that an invention must not only be novel, but it must be "usefull" Again, meaning that the invention must preform it's desired function.
It must be unobvious. That is to say, the solution you create for a problem must be un-conventional, or at least appear and funtion to be.
According to the USPTO:
"What Can Be Patented
The patent law specifies the general field of subject matter that can be patented and the conditions under which a patent may be obtained.
In the language of the statute, any person who “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,” subject to the conditions and requirements of the law. The word “process” is defined by law as a process, act or method, and primarily includes industrial or technical processes. The term “machine” used in the statute needs no explanation. The term “manufacture” refers to articles that are made, and includes all manufactured articles. The term “composition of matter” relates to chemical compositions and may include mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical compounds. These classes of subject matter taken together include practically everything that is made by man and the processes for making the products.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 excludes the patenting of inventions useful solely in the utilization of special nuclear material or atomic energy for atomic weapons.
The patent law specifies that the subject matter must be “useful.” The term “useful” in this connection refers to the condition that the subject matter has a useful purpose and also includes operativeness, that is, a machine which will not operate to perform the intended purpose would not be called useful, and therefore would not be granted a patent.
Interpretations of the statute by the courts have defined the limits of the field of subject matter that can be patented, thus it has been held that the laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable subject matter.
A patent cannot be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion. The patent is granted upon the new machine, manufacture, etc., as has been said, and not upon the idea or suggestion of the new machine. A complete description of the actual machine or other subject matter for which a patent is sought is required. " USPTO.gov [ Back to Top ]
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