A well-known phrase amongst IP practitioners is that patentable subject matter may include “anything under the sun that is made by man.” Yet not surprisingly, not every invention is patentable – even if it falls within the four classes of “statutory subject matter” and the novelty, nonobviousness, and written description requirements can be met.
Join Vish Mohan for an excellent review of patent law protection in the United States. Vish mainly covers the hallmarks of patent law and then details the standards determined to issue patents — patent eligible subject matter, useful, new, nonobvious and adequate written description. Additional subjects addressed include: utility, design & plant patents, how you get a patent, the four classes of patentable subject matter, substantial & credible utility, public use, described in a printed publication, “on sale”, otherwise available to the public and the best mode. The following hallmark cases are also discussed: KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., Diamond v. Chakrabarty, Bilski v. Kappos and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International.
Vishwanath (“Vish”) Kootala Mohan is an intellectual property associate at One LLP in Costa Mesa, California. Coming from a Mechanical Engineering background, his practice focuses on intellectual property law, including patent and trademark prosecution and IP litigation involving patent, trademark, and copyright issues.