Apex Juris Blog

The Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in In re Merz held that a replica of a naturally occurring substance which is of higher purity patentable is not patentable, unless the product is so pure that it differs not only in degree but in characteristic properties so as to provide a nonobvious and therefore patentable…

A patentable invention must be statutory, new, useful, and nonobvious in view of “prior art.” Threshold requirements for patentability require that an invention comprise “statutory subject matter” as proscribed by at least one of five categories: compositions of matter (compounds such as a drug or glue); articles of manufacture (simple devices); machines (devices with moving…

Effective March 16, 2013, the United States adopted the “first inventor to file” patent system. Prior to that effective date, the U.S. awarded a patent to whoever could demonstrate the earliest completion of an invention under a “first to invent” system. rather the entity that first filed a patent application. To resolve issues of inventorship…