Which invention will be protected by a patent?

Which invention will be protected by a patent?

• A. A therapeutic machine that heals and eliminates blemishes on any part of the skin.
• B. Computer program
• C. Mere combination of different strains of bacteria
• D. Procedures for computing net profit from business ventures

Answer: (A)

Patent protection goes to new, useful, and non-obvious inventions, including tangible devices that solve a technical problem. A therapeutic machine that heals and eliminates blemishes on the skin is a concrete device with a medical application, so it can be patented if it meets novelty and non-obviousness requirements. The other options describe things that typically aren’t patentable on their own: software by itself is generally not patentable in many places unless it creates a technical effect; a mere combination of bacterial strains may be natural or lack an inventive step; calculating net profit is an abstract business method and not patentable in many systems. Thus, the machine is the invention that would be protected by a patent.

Patent protection goes to new, useful, and non-obvious inventions, including tangible devices that solve a technical problem. A therapeutic machine that heals and eliminates blemishes on the skin is a concrete device with a medical application, so it can be patented if it meets novelty and non-obviousness requirements. The other options describe things that typically aren’t patentable on their own: software by itself is generally not patentable in many places unless it creates a technical effect; a mere combination of bacterial strains may be natural or lack an inventive step; calculating net profit is an abstract business method and not patentable in many systems. Thus, the machine is the invention that would be protected by a patent.