In this case, use of computer software to cure synthetic rubber transformed the uncured synthetic rubber into a different state or thing and constituted a patentable process. Certainly software is useful. Therefore, software now appears to be patentable subject matter. B. Novelty Inventions must be novel to be patented. That means the exact invention claimed in the patent application must not have been known or used anywhere in the world.
Patent claims are very specific, describing in detail the various elements of the invention.
Each patent typically has several claims, explicating the invention in increasing levels of detail, from broad claims which describe the invention in a more generic manner, to narrow claims which describe the invention in minute detail. To be novel, the claims in a given patent application must be different in at least one material aspect from all other inventions known, used, or described in a written publication. Because the Patent Office typically uses other patents as the basis for this comparison, it can be said in general that the elements in a given applied-for claim must not be the same elements as any claim in an issued patent or other written description. So, for example, an Examiner would compare the elements of an applied-for claim to a claim in an issued patent. If the elements of the applied-for claim were the same as the elements of the invention claimed in the issued patent, the applied for claim would not meet the novelty standard and would be rejected.