Basic Coverage of the Patent Act

A patent issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office can grant the patent owner substantial economic advantages. Section 154 of the Patent Act sets forth in brief the scope of the patent right  

Every patent shall contain. .. a grant to the patentee, his heirs or assigns, for the term of seventeen years. of the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention throughout the United States. .. [35 U.S.C. 154.] 

Patent Act gives the basic definition of patentable inventions as follows  

Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. [35 U.S.C. 101.] 

Although, as discussed below, there have been disputes as to the patentability of some inventions, the basic definitions of patentable inventions in the chemical area are fairly clear. The phrase composition of matter in 101 relates primarily to chemical compositions. Patentable compositions of matter include chemical compounds and mixtures of ingredients. New methods of producing known products may be patentable as processes . A process also includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacturing composition of matter, or material. Thus, new uses of known chemicals are patentable as processes. Both DDT and propanil are among the many known chemicals for which process patents have issued. 

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