MPEP Updated To Include New Guidance On Subject Matter Eligibility

In late January 2018, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a revision to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure that includes substantial guidance on patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. While the MPEP has no authority of law in itself, it is the primary resource that instructs patent examiners in all aspects of examination. The update to the MPEP does not purport to change the examination practice set forth in a series of earlier memoranda issued by the USPTO in the years following the 2014 decision in Alice v. CLS Bank. However, the recent revision does consolidate and organize the guidance from these memoranda in a single resource, one that provides new clues as to how examiners will approach the subject matter eligibility question going forward.