View source for Industrial applicability

{{Short description|Concept in patent law}}
{{Patent law}}
In certain jurisdictions' [[patent law]], '''industrial applicability''' or '''industrial application''' is a [[patentability]] requirement according to which a patent can only be granted for an [[invention]] which is susceptible of industrial application, i.e. for an invention which can be made or used in some kind of industry. In this context, the concept of "industry" is far-reaching: it includes [[agriculture]], for instance. An example of invention which would ''not'' be susceptible of industrial application is "a method of [[contraception]] [...] to be applied in the [[privacy|private]] and personal sphere of a [[human being]]".<ref>[https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t930074ex1.html Decision T 74/93] of the [[Appeal procedure before the European Patent Office|Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office]]</ref>

In [[United States patent law]], the [[utility (patent)|utility]] requirement is a more or less corresponding, but different, requirement.

== Jurisdictions ==
=== European Patent Convention ===
Under the [[European Patent Convention]] (EPC), the requirement that an invention must be susceptible of industrial application to be patentable means that the invention "can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture".<ref>{{EPC Article|57}}</ref> In decision T 870/04 it was held that the mere fact that a substance can be made in some way does not necessarily mean that the requirements of {{EPC Article|57}} are fulfilled, unless there is also some "profitable use" for which the substance can be employed.<ref>[https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t040870eu1.html Decision T 870/04]</ref>

When an alleged invention does not comply with the generally accepted [[laws of physics]], the industrial application is also lacking. In that case, the industrial application requirement is related to the requirement of [[sufficiency of disclosure]], i.e. the requirement that a "patent application must disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a [[person skilled in the art]]".<ref>"Industrial application is also lacking if the product or process is contrary to the laws of physics (T 541/96), such as for example a perpetual motion machine (...)." in {{EPO Case law book 2019|i|e|1|1}} "Invention and industrial application".</ref><ref>See also, for cases at the United Kingdom Patent Office ([[UK-IPO]]), [http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2008/06/uk-ipo-gets-tougher-on-perpetual-motion.html ''UK-IPO gets tougher on perpetual motion''], [[IPKat]], 12 June 2008. Consulted on June 12, 2008.</ref>

{{EPC Article|53|c}} excludes "methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body" from patentability, because these methods are regarded as not susceptible of industrial application.<ref>{{EPC Article|53|c}}</ref> The purpose of this exclusion is "to deny patent protection to methods which serve medical purposes, so that no one could be hampered in the practice of medicine by patent legislation."<ref>[http://archive.epo.org/epo/pubs/oj007/08_07/special_edition_6_case_law_boards_of_appeal.pdf Special edition 6/2007, EPO Board of Appeal Case Law 2006], pages 17-18.</ref>

=== Japan ===
{{main|Japanese patent law#Industrial applicability}}

==See also==
*[[Incredible utility]]

== References and notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{EPC Article|57}} ([[European Patent Convention]])
** {{EPO Guidelines|g|iii}}: "Industrial application"
** {{EPO Case law book 2019|i|e}}: "The requirement of industrial application under Article 57 EPC"
* {{PCT Article|33|4}} ([[Patent Cooperation Treaty]])
* [https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/288514 Article 1] of the [[Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property]], see in particular paragraph (3) for guidances as to how the word "industry" should be interpreted.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Industrial Applicability}}
[[Category:Patent law]]
[[Category:Management cybernetics]]