Is my invention patentable?

Patentable	Not patentable
products processes appliances	Schemes, rules, processes for immaterial activities, for instance constructions plans cutting patterns teaching methods for humans and animals music notations stenographies for games and commercial activities, for instance accounting systems
products containing biological material* biological material* which is produced or isolated from its natural environment by technical processes	biological plant breeding processes plant and animal varieties processes for modifying the genetic constitution of animals or for creating animals without substantial benefit for humans or animals
processes for producing modifying use of biological material*	origin and development - including germ cells - of the human body discovery of a component of the human body including genetic sequences processes for cloning and germline modifying of human beings
computer programs that provide a new functionality and contribute to the state of the art by linking soft- and hardware	software programs without instructions for technical use alternative protective right: copyright
	scientific theories mathematical methods rendering of information, for instance tables formulas
	discoveries
	new coined aesthetic forms alternative protective right: aesthetic model

* Biological material contains genetic information and reproduces itself or can be reproduced within a biological system.

A technical invention is patentable, only if it meets the following conditions:

	Conditions	Explanation
1.	new, not yet released, not comprised in the state of the art	The state of the art comprises everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the patent application. Additionally, pre-released descriptions of the invention, even by the the inventor himself, are considered as comprised in the state of the art. The utility model provides an alternative option where pre-releases by the applicant or his predecessor in title within the six months preceding the date of filing are not taken into consideration.
2.	sufficient inventive performance, innovativeness	If a person skilled in the art derives a solution of a problem in an obvious way from the prior art, his idea is without inventive step and therefore not patentable.
3.	commercially applicable and usable	Many healthcare professions are not regulated by law. Therefore, for example, surgical or therapeutical treatments and some diagnostic procedures are inventions without commercial applicability.
4.	ethical	Inventions whose exploitation or publication would contravene the public policy are not patentable. Thereby it is irrelevant if the use of an invention is prohibited by law (burglar tools, production of harmful food).
5.	conforming to natural laws	Evidently, the existence of a perpetuum mobile would defy the laws of physics.