The USPTO, provides an example of a patent-eligible claim for a process of hydrolyzing fat molecules into free fatty acids and glycerol without using conventional methods (at the time of invention) of steam distillation with lye or sulfuric acid. [May, 2016]

May 2016 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility Examples: Life Sciences (May 6, 2016)

Example 33 “Hydrolysis of Fat” – From the USPTO’s Subject Matter Eligibility Examples: Life Sciences

The USPTO based the following “patent eligible” claim on technology from US Patent 11,766, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Tilghman v. Proctor, 102 U.S. 707 (1881).  Although the case is very old, the USPTO notes that Supreme Court has subsequently described the decision as upholding the eligibility of process claims containing a law of nature. See, e.g., Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 590-91 and n.12 (1978); Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 70 (1972).

Claim    1.   A process for obtaining free fatty acids and glycerol from fat comprising:

(a) mixing substantially equal quantities of fat and water in a closed vessel; and

(b) heating the mixture to an elevated temperature of at least 600 degrees Fahrenheit under sufficient pressure to prevent the formation of steam in the closed vessel; and maintaining the elevated temperature for at least 10 minutes.

USPTO Analysis

Although the claim is founded upon a chemical principle relating to neutral fats, the claim is eligible because, it is not attempting to tie up the chemical principal so that others cannot practice it.  Even if the claim were directed to a judicial exception, the claim amounts to something “significantly more” than any exception.  The claim would amount to something “significantly more” because the claim recites specific unconventional steps.