Utility and Usefulness

35 USC Section 101 sets forth the useful requirement for patent protection. It states:

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.

Utility generally lets the market decide if an invention carries importance to the public or “sinks into contempt and disregard.” Utility means more than a mere curiosity, a scientific process exciting wonder yet not producing physical results, or a frivolous or trifling article not aiding in the progress nor increasing the possession of the human race.

There are three types of utility: beneficial, general, and specific. After Juicy Whip Inc. v. Orange Bang Inc., beneficial utility simply does not apply anymore in patent cases. General utility requires that the invention actually work. General utility asks: does the invention purport to violate scientific truths? One common example of this is a perpetual motion machine as lacking general utility because it violates the laws of thermodynamics.

The last type of utility, specific utility, requires that an invention work for its intended purpose. Most subject matter satisfies this requirement. Specific utility is a branch of usefulness that has become important in the modern world of chemical and bio technical inventions. This is because these types of inventions are often developed long before research can discover a specific purpose. Many times the inventor can only guess about potential uses and similar compositions or things already in use.

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