For an invention to be patentable, it must be considered new or novel. This novelty requirement states that an invention cannot be patented if certain public disclosures of the invention have been made.
Patents
are not granted for all new and useful inventions and discoveries. For example, the object of the invention or discovery must be within the limits set at 35 U.S. C. Anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of material, or any new and useful improvement of them, may obtain a patent in this regard, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. The US Patent Act has one of the broadest standards of what is patentable in all countries.
When filing a provisional or non-provisional patent application, inventors must consider all patentability requirements: it must be legal, novel, useful and not obvious. Certain inventions are not patentable under The Patent Act and would not meet this requirement that it be “legal”; examples include data structures, non-functional descriptive material such as books or music, electromagnetic signals, laws of nature and other abstract ideas - courts have held that laws of nature, physical phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable. When has a “public disclosure” been made? This is a complicated analysis; an invention is generally not novel if it was known about before you invented it; if it was described in a publication more than one year before it was presented; or if it was publicly used or sold more than one year before it was presented - this means there is only one year after first public disclosure or sale during which a patent application can be filed; if you don't file within this period it may prevent obtaining a patent by law - even explaining your invention to friends can start this clock ticking! A patent examiner will review all previous patents for same or very similar inventions; when all features are found in single previous patent it will be rejected because it lacks novelty - inventors should conduct a patent search before filing to ensure their invention is novel!This requirement prevents previous technique from being repatented! As with novelty requirement inventor must perform a patent search and study state of art to predict if examiner will discover their invention is not obvious - examiner will decide if invention would be considered obvious to someone with standard knowledge on subject - this analysis can be difficult since involves reviewing previous patents for inventions similar to yours!To meet requirements for US patents there are certain restrictions on where an invention must be made - these restrictions include legal categories of inventions as well as judicial exceptions. Inventors should also consider utility requirements as well as public disclosure requirements when filing their applications.
For instance, use paragraphs 8.30, 8.31 and 8.32 of the form for legal double patent denials. In the rare case where it is clear that the application does not mention the correct invention and the applicant has not submitted a request to correct the invention according to 37 CFR 1.48, the examiner must reject the requests in accordance with 35 U. See MPEP § 2106 to discuss the eligibility of the subject matter in general and the analytical framework that will be used during the examination to assess whether a claim is based on a subject eligible for a patent, MPEP § 2106.03 to analyze legal categories of invention, MPEP § 2106.04 to analyze judicial exceptions, and MPEP § 2106.05 to discuss how to evaluate requests aimed at a judicial exception to meet the requirements. See MPEP § 2106.07 (a) (for paragraphs of the form for use in refusals under 35 U.
C.). See also article 2105 of the MPEP for more information on the claim of living objects, as well as the prohibition of the Leahy-Smith Act of American Inventions (AIA) from reclaiming human organisms. The admissible subject matter is further limited by the Atomic Energy Act, explained in article 2104.01 of the MPEP, which prohibits the granting of patents on any invention or discovery that is useful only for the use of special nuclear material or atomic energy in an atomic weapon.
