MPEP 2106.04(d): Integration Into a Practical Application

Answer in brief

MPEP 2106.04(d) is Step 2A, Prong Two: a claim that recites a judicial exception is still eligible if, as a whole, it integrates the exception into a practical application. Improvements to computer functioning or to another technology are the strongest indicator.

What MPEP 2106.04(d) covers

The examiner looks at the additional elements in combination, not one at a time.

Considerations showing integration: an improvement to computer functionality or another technology (2106.04(d)(1), 2106.05(a)); a particular treatment or prophylaxis; a particular machine; a transformation of an article; other meaningful limits.
Considerations that do not: mere instructions to apply the exception (2106.05(f)), insignificant extra-solution activity (2106.05(g)), and merely linking the exception to a field of use (2106.05(h)).
Prong Two does not ask whether the elements are well-understood, routine or conventional; that is a Step 2B question.

How examiners use it

If the claim integrates the exception, the analysis ends and the claim is eligible. Applicants usually argue Prong Two by pointing to a technical improvement described in the specification.

On the patent bar

Know that "well-understood, routine, conventional" belongs to Step 2B, not Prong Two, and know the listed considerations on each side.

Read the full text

Official title: Integration of a Judicial Exception Into A Practical Application [R-07.2022].

Read MPEP 2106 in full on Wysebridge ↗

Or at the source: USPTO MPEP § 2106.

Sources for this entry

USPTO — MPEP § 2106 USPTO
Official text of this section, Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024.
Wysebridge MPEP Center Wysebridge (publisher of this site)
The full MPEP (9th Ed., Rev. 01.2024) free to read, with Wysebridge's estimated patent bar weight for each chapter.

Practical guidance is original editorial content. Company-published figures are the company's own claims and are labeled as such.

Continue this reading path

MPEP 2106: Patent Subject Matter Eligibility MPEP 2106.04(a)(2): Abstract Idea Groupings

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Cite or share this entry

MPEP.net. “MPEP 2106.04(d): Integration Into a Practical Application.” Wysebridge Reference. Content reviewed 9 November 2026.
https://mpep.net/mpep-2106-04-d/