What are the key considerations for integrating a judicial exception into a practical application?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

The key considerations for integrating a judicial exception into a practical application include:

• Improvement to the functioning of a computer or technology: The claimed invention should provide a technical improvement.
• Application of the judicial exception: The claim should apply or use the judicial exception in a meaningful way beyond generally linking it to a particular technological environment.
• Particular machine or manufacture: The claim should implement the judicial exception with a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim.
• Transformation of an article: The claim should effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing.

As stated in MPEP 2106.04(d): “A claim that integrates a judicial exception into a practical application will apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the judicial exception.”