Rich Goldstein (00:03):
In this video, we’re going to talk about the two criteria you need to satisfy in order to get a patent. So the first item is patentable subject matter. Now, patentable subject matter just means that you have the type of thing that can be patented and the determined whether you have what can be patented. You, you need to first decide whether it fits into one of the basic categories of what can be protected and therefore basic categories of things that can be patented. Doesn’t matter, whether you can tell exactly which one of these it fits in, it can even fit into more than one. Um, so now don’t let the categories bog you down too much. The four basic categories of Pattonville subject matter or machine manufacturer composition of matter. And the process also known as a method. And we’ll give you examples of each one. So machine traditionally means something with moving parts that interact, and you might think of a machine with something that has gears, something that might have a motor or an engine, things like that, but actually things that qualify as machines include anything that has parts that interact with each other.
Rich Goldstein (01:11):
So even an electrical circuit, when nothing actually moves, it’s considered a machine on the patent law and it’s eligible for patent protection. A manufacturer is something that doesn’t have moving parts, but it still has a function. For example, a paperclip, um, uh, paperclips a manufacturer because it’s a single piece of wire, but the way that it’s bent gives it functionality, uh, it’s something physical that doesn’t have moving parts, but it’s still functional. Um, third composition of matter. That’s a combination of chemicals. It could be a pharmaceutical, it could be a household cleaning product. It could be a supplement. It could be a new shampoo where you’ve taken one existing chemical or ingredients and added it to another. A composition of matter is simply where you take chemicals. You put them together. And the resulting combination serves a useful purpose. A process also known as a method.
Rich Goldstein (02:07):
It could be something like a new way of refining steel, where you have a new set of steps that you follow in order to refine the steel. Uh, and it’s not that the resulting steel is different than what came before. That’s not what you’re patenting, it’s that the method or the process or the way that you do it is different. And over the past couple of decades, software has been protected using the category of process or method. Um, also, you know, certain ways of doing business have been protected, uh, because they fit under this category as well. Not so much anymore business methods, um, basically dead at this point. Um, but essentially, um, these are all processes. Uh, and as mentioned before, you might actually see your invention in more than one of these categories. Uh, and it’s actually not important to figure out where it fits.
Rich Goldstein (02:54):
The important thing is to realize that it fits somewhere in this, uh, in at least one, these categories, um, and these categories of patentable subject matter apply to what’s called a utility patent or utility patent is the most common form of patent protection. There’s another kind of patent quote, a design patent. Uh, and this applies only to when the thing that’s unique about the product is the shape of it or the look of it. If the difference between your idea and what’s out there is just for ornamental purposes. It’s just about the look of it. Then that could be a design patent. A design patent is probably not what you’re here for. Um, if your, if you have something that’s functional, you have a new concept for something and the way in which it functions, then we’re going to continue the majority of our discussion.
Rich Goldstein (03:42):
Assuming that you have something that has patentable subject matter and that what you’re heading for is a utility pad. Now, the second criteria is what I I’ll refer to as distinctiveness. It’s not a technical term at the patent office, but really what we’re saying is, is it different enough? Um, so this distinctiveness is a determination of how different, your ideas from things that already exist. And in patent law, we refer to the, to the things that already exist as the prior art and prior auto things that have been done by other people before, before you, before your invention, if things that relate to your invention that are relevant to the question of how different is your invention from previous thought, from previous ideas, from previous concepts and previous products. So that’s what the prior art is all about. And, um, and in order to get a patent, you need to figure out how different your idea is from the prior art. Um, so in some, in order to get a patent, your idea needs to have the basic criteria of that. It has to one have patentable subject matter. And two, it has to be distinctive from the prior art. And in the next video, we’re going to discuss just how distinctive your idea needs to be from the prior art in order to get
