By Richard Stobbe

What is eligible to be patented in the US? This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released Interim Eligibility Guidance on patent subject matter eligibility. In this document, the USPTO summarizes the instructions for examiners on the following categories which are exceptions to patent eligibility:

• abstract idea,
• natural phenomena, and
• product of nature.

This guidance is intended to synthesize the latest Supreme Court decisions in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 133 S. Ct. 2107 (2013), Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 (2012) and Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). According to the document, it supercedes prior instructions issued by the USPTO on this topic and “offers a comprehensive view of subject matter eligibility in line with Alice Corp, Myriad, Mayo, and the related body of case law, and is responsive to the public comments received pertaining to the March 2014 Procedure and the June 2014 Preliminary Instructions.”

This Interim Eligibility Guidance is effective on December 16, 2014, and applies to all applications filed before, on or after December 16, 2014. The USPTO is seeking public comment on this Interim Eligibility Guidance – comments must be received by March 16, 2015.

 

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