In an article published on March 26, 2024, Harness IP Principal Michael Taylor provided insight on successful strategies for applicants navigating patents for nature-based elements. Taylor explained the discourse on eligible patent claims on laws of nature through examining previous court cases on the subject.

“More recently, this hurdle seems to have been raised and appears to have become less likely to be overcome. While litigation in federal courts has many individual and unique aspects, in the 12 years from January 2012 to December 2023, there have been 551 cases that found patents invalid for 35 §101 subject matter reasons in federal district courts. This indicates a ninefold increase in cases between two adjacent periods,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor outlined recent cases to see whether or not certain patents have passed the test of “new and useful.” Taylor wrote about the Caredx v. Natera case, “Therefore, while the steps used for testing may have connections to previous methods, discussing how these conventional steps were modified or improved could pave the way for patent eligibility, even if they involve a natural phenomenon. Perhaps the altered or enhanced steps could constitute the new and useful process and/or provide the additional inventive concept to qualify as eligible subject matter.”

The full article may be accessed here.