| Patent law specifies the general field of subject matter that may be patented as well as the conditions under which a patent may be obtained. In the language of the applicable 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." Under law, patents are granted on new inventions of -- or useful improvements on -- things in the following categories:
Process - A process is an act or method, which primarily includes industrial or technical processes. This is a mode of treatment of materials to produce a result. It is an act or series of acts performed on the subject to be transformed and modified to a different or improved state.
Machine - A machine is a mechanically, electrically, or electronically operated device for performing a task. In patent law, the term is synonymous with mechanism, device, engine, or apparatus.
Manufacture - Manufacture refers to an article that is human-made from raw materials. This covers products other than machines and compositions of matter, including all manufactured articles.
Composition of Matter - Composition of matter refers to chemical and metallurgical compositions and may include certain mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical compounds.
The above classes of subject matter taken together include nearly everything that is made by man and the processes for making the products.
Exclusions
- The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 excludes the patenting of inventions used solely in the utilization of special nuclear material or atomic energy for atomic weapons.
- The laws of nature, physical phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable subject matter.
- A patent may not be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion. A patent is granted upon the new machine, manufacture, etc., not upon the idea or suggestion of a new machine. A complete description of the actual machine or other subject matter for which a patent is sought is required.
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