statutory subject matter

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To qualify as patentable subject matter, an invention must satisfy two criteria: statutory, and judicial.

35 U.S.C. Section 101, requires that to qualify as statutory subject matter, the subject matter of the invention must fall into at least one of five categories: 

  1. Compositions of matter (compounds such as a drug or glue); 
  2. Articles of manufacture (simple devices such as screwdrivers and rakes); 
  3. Machines (devices with moving parts, such as an auto engine); 
  4. Processes (a method of doing something such as an implant procedure); and 
  5. New and useful improvements of any of the above categories. 

Judicial subject matter means that subject matter cannot fall within an exception recognized by the courts.

[Last updated in October of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]