Prometheus Laboratories, Mental Steps, and Printed Matter

46 Pages Posted: 1 Apr 2013

See all articles by Kevin Emerson Collins

Kevin Emerson Collins

Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law

Date Written: March 31, 2013

Abstract

This symposium article identifies connections between the Supreme Court's recent opinion in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories and two doctrines that federal appellate courts have used to curb the reach of patent protection: the historical mental steps doctrine and the contemporary printed matter doctrine. These connections suggest a new way of thinking about what the Court is doing in its Prometheus Laboratories opinion. On its rhetorical surface, the opinion clearly addresses the role that "laws of nature" have long played in restricting the reach of patentable subject matter. However, beneath its laws-of-nature rhetoric, Prometheus Laboratories can also be construed as a case that explores the impact of the unpatentability of the human mind on the reach of patent protection. The Court's Prometheus Laboratories opinion resonates strongly with both historical limits on the patentability of newly invented mental processes (mental steps) and contemporary limits on the patentability of information that is meaningful to the human mind (printed matter).

Keywords: patent law, laws of nature, mental steps, printed matter

Suggested Citation

Collins, Kevin Emerson, Prometheus Laboratories, Mental Steps, and Printed Matter (March 31, 2013). Houston Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 391, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2242524

Kevin Emerson Collins (Contact Author)

Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law ( email )

Campus Box 1120
St. Louis, MO 63130
United States

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