Patents are not allowed on ideas per se, only the application of an idea. Nor can discoveries of natural phenomena be patented. So a naturally occurring molecule cannot be patented, nor can a gene in a chromosome. But slightly alter the molecule, or isolate the DNA of the gene, and a patentable invention may now exist.
The patent process begins with an application that:
These last two items usually require close cooperation of the scientist-inventor(s) and attorneys expert in patent law.
The application is reviewed by a patent examiner, who searches the relevant scientific literature and past U.S. and foreign patent databases to make sure the proposed invention is new, useful, novel, and nonobvious. The patent examiner may raise objections, and the scientist-inventor can provide technical rebuttals to show why the objections are in error or modify the claims. This process, called the patent's "prosecution," can end in several months, ...
