Skip to main content
SearchLoginLogin or Signup

An Automatic Means-Plus-Function Limitation for Otherwise Patentable Subject Matter

Published onAug 07, 2022
An Automatic Means-Plus-Function Limitation for Otherwise Patentable Subject Matter

22 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 242

Patent law awards deserving applicants an exclusive right to an
invention in exchange for disclosure of the innovation. Section 101 of
the Patent Act of 1952 sets forth what subject matter is eligible for
patent protection. However, the Supreme Court has long held that the
scope of subject matter eligibility is not as broad as 35 U.S.C. § 101
may imply. For more than 150 years, the Court has recognized that
§ 101 and its predecessors contain implicit judicial exceptions. A
claim may not qualify as patentable subject matter under § 101 if it is
directed to a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea.


Comments
0
comment
No comments here
Why not start the discussion?