In Managing Intellectual Property, IP Litigator Addresses Patent Eligibility Criteria Challenges

Sources from the medical diagnostics industry say that a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in American Axle v. Neapco would provide much-needed clarity to patenting “laws of nature.” 

In a Managing Intellectual Property article, IP litigation partner Matt Rizzolo (Washington, D.C.) explains that American Axle is an instance where the case law on the patentability of natural phenomena has jumped from the diagnostics and biotechnology space to the technology realm of automotive manufacturing. 

Matt notes that getting a patent over the Section 101 patent eligibility barrier sometimes requires some creativity. He explains that the current interpretation of the law is that a patent will not be granted for an abstract idea or a generalized idea of a natural law, but that it is possible to get a patent on particularized, novel applications of an idea or natural law.