By Michael Borella — With apologies to David Letterman. If we have learned anything from the last six-and-a-half years of patent eligibility jurisprudence, it is that nobody knows what’s going on. Subject matter eligibility is a fundamental requirement for an invention to be patentable. According to 35 U.S.C. § 101, “[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” This definition is quite broad, covering virtually any physical thing (machines, articles of manufacture,…
