Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-17-2018
Graduation Year
2020
Abstract
Patent is an important legal tool for inventors to protect their interests in their inventions. But what kind of inventions exactly? Statutorily, an eligible invention needs to be a “process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” However, not every subject-matter that facially falls under one of the four categories may receive patent protection. Indeed, the Supreme Court has carved out exceptions to patentability: Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are unpatentable. Among them, abstract ideas are the most difficult to define. As a result, the abstract idea exception generates the greatest legal uncertainty.
This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on November 17, 2018. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.
Recommended Citation
Lin, Jun, "Result Orientation Test for an Abstract Idea: Demise of the Means-Plus-Function Claim?" (2018). AELJ Blog. 184.
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/aelj-blog/184
