Joint AIPLA-IPO Proposal on Patent Eligibility
In This Section
In March 2017, the AIPLA Board of Directors adopted a recommendation of the AIPLA Patentable Subject Matter Task Force, putting forth a legislative proposal to amend § 101. The recommendation cited concerns with current jurisprudence and called for a legislative solution. Other organizations, including the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) also have raised similar concerns. After additional discussion and consideration, AIPLA and IPO have adopted the following joint proposal to address the concerns regarding § 101.
May 2018
Joint Proposal Concerning Legislative Amendment of 35 U.S.C. § 101
Eligible Subject Matter
a) Whoever invents or discovers, and claims as an invention, any useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any useful improvement thereof, shall be entitled to a patent therefor, subject only to the conditions and requirements set forth in this title.
Sole Exceptions to Subject Matter Eligibility
b) A claimed invention is ineligible under subsection (a) if and only if the claimed invention as a whole (i) exists in nature independently of and prior to any human activity or (ii) is performed solely in the human mind.
Sole Eligibility Standard
c) The eligibility of a claimed invention under subsections (a) and (b) shall be determined without regard to:
(i) the requirements or conditions of sections 102, 103, and 112 of this title;
(ii) the manner in which the claimed invention was made or discovered; or
(iii) whether the claimed invention includes an inventive concept.