What are ‘meaningful limitations’ in the context of patent eligibility?
‘Meaningful limitations’ in patent eligibility refer to claim elements that significantly restrict the scope of the claim, preventing it from monopolizing a judicial exception. The MPEP 2106.06(a) states:
“A claim directed to a complex manufactured industrial product or process that recites meaningful limitations along with a judicial exception may sufficiently limit its practical application so that a full eligibility analysis is not needed.”
Meaningful limitations often involve specific applications or implementations of abstract ideas, laws of nature, or natural phenomena that go beyond general principles. These limitations help demonstrate that the claim is not an attempt to patent the judicial exception itself but rather a specific application of it.
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