What are some examples of transformations that are not considered “particular” for patent eligibility?

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 MPEP 2106.05(c) provides several examples of transformations that are not considered “particular” for patent eligibility purposes:

• Data manipulation: Organizing information through mathematical correlations.
• Displaying data: Presenting the results of abstract processes of collecting and analyzing information without more.
• Combining data: Gathering and combining data that does not require a particular transformation of a particular article.
• Financial transactions: Manipulating financial data to generate additional data without significantly changing the data or how it is output.

The MPEP states:

“An “article” includes a wide range of tangible things, ranging from chemicals to food products to electronic data files. For example, data transformation such as encoding or encrypting is not a “transformation” in the patent eligibility sense because the data is intangible.”

These examples illustrate that transformations that merely manipulate or reorganize data, without significantly changing the nature or state of a physical article, are generally not considered “particular” transformations for patent eligibility.