Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2024

HR 9474, the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2024, would restore broad patent eligibility by removing court-created restrictions on what inventions can be patented. It specifies that most inventions - such as useful processes, machines, or compositions of matter - are eligible unless they fall into narrow exclusions: pure mathematical formulas not tied to an invention, mental processes performed solely in the mind, unmodified human genes or natural materials as they exist in nature, or purely economic/business processes (though processes requiring machines to function would remain eligible). This directly affects inventors, patent attorneys, and companies seeking patent protection by clarifying that eligibility depends solely on the invention’s category, not on prior court interpretations. The bill aims to resolve years of confusion in patent law by explicitly listing exclusions and eliminating judicial exceptions to Section 101 of U.S. patent law.