unpatentable
Cannot be owned
Unpatentable describes an invention or idea that cannot be legally patented—either because it fails to meet requirements for novelty, usefulness, or non-obviousness, or because it falls into categories excluded from patent protection.
Laws of nature, abstract ideas, and naturally occurring substances are typically unpatentable: The court ruled that isolated genes are unpatentable.
Not meeting requirements
- obviousnessState of being evident
- noveltyQuality of being original
- nonobviousNot readily apparent
- enablementAct of making possible
utility · disclosure · infringement · invalidation · rejection · claim · examination · prosecution
Not brand-name
- commonplaceUnremarkable and frequent
- conventionalFollowing accepted practices
- establishedFormally set up
- routineRegular sequence of actions
trivial · unoriginal · obvious · predictable · standard · basic · inherent · intrinsic
ineligible
Not meeting requirements
- obviousnessState of being evident
- noveltyQuality of being original
- nonobviousNot readily apparent
enablement · utility · disclosure · infringement · invalidation · rejection · claim · examination · prosecution · litigation
generic
Not brand-name
- commonplaceUnremarkable and frequent
- conventionalFollowing accepted practices
- establishedFormally set up
routine · trivial · unoriginal · obvious · predictable · standard · basic · inherent · intrinsic · widespread
unpatentablepatentable
Able to be legally protected
protectable · novel · inventive · non-obvious · proprietary
patent, patented, patenting, patentable, patentability, patentee