The Utilitarian Fruits Approach to Justifying Patentable Subject Matter

Emir Aly Crowne

Abstract

This article proposes an approach to justifying patentable subject matter that uses Locke as its starting point, and utilitarianism as its end.  The patent eligibility of any given subject matter must be a mixture of labour and certain utilitarian incentives.  If these elements are present—and if the subject matter in question can be made to fit within the definition of invention (even if slightly uncomfortably)—then courts and tribunals should aim to accommodate it.

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