What does it mean to manufacture? The term manufacture is also quite broad. The term “manufacture” includes a “comprehensive class of inventions” that include “every article devised by man except machinery upon the one side, and compositions of matter and designs upon the other.” Chisum on Patents § 1.02[3] (citing W. Robinson, The Law of Patents for Useful Inventions 270 (1890)).
The term “composition of matter” includes an intermixture of two or more ingredients. W. Robinson, The Law of Patents for Useful Inventions 278-9 (1890). The composition must possess some properties that do not belong to the materials in their separate state. In other words, there must be some cooperation between the ingredients within the intermixture. However, there need not be a synergy. The term composition of matter includes chemical compounds, mechanical or physical mixtures, alloys, etc.
There is also a special requirement for a composition of matter in that a patentee must be able to demonstrate that he/she has possession of the composition of matter. The definition of “possession” will be discussed later. The Supreme Court expanded the traditionally broad interpretation of the statutory categories of invention in 1980. InDiamond v. Chakrabarty, the Supreme Court held that patentable subject matter may include anything under the sun invented by the hand of man. SeeDiamond v. Chakrabarty,447 U.S. 303, 206 U.S.P.Q. 193, 197 n. 6 (1980 citing legislative history). Incidentally, theChakrabartycase represented a landmark decision in which the Court determined that a genetically engineered man-made organism was patentable.
Is Patent Protection Desirable? (part 2)
Thomas Joseph is a patent attorney in Pittsburgh, Pa. He maintains a solo practice in all areas of intellectual-property law. He has been practicing since 2001. Before starting his solo practice, Joseph was the General Counsel of Grant Street Group, a financial software firm. At Grant Street Group, he managed the company’s patent litigation against its primary competitors in the online-auction markets for tax certificates, foreclosures, tax deeds and municipal bonds. Joseph received a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.
You can contact him at www.joseph-iplaw.com.
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