MPEP 2106: Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

Answer in brief

MPEP 2106 sets out how examiners decide whether a claim is eligible for a patent under 35 U.S.C. 101. Step 1 asks whether the claim falls in one of the four statutory categories. Step 2A asks whether it is directed to a judicial exception. Step 2B asks whether it adds an inventive concept, called "significantly more".

What MPEP 2106 covers

The section turns the Supreme Court's Alice and Mayo framework into an examination flowchart with three pathways to eligibility.

Step 1 (2106.03): is the claim a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter?
Step 2A, Prong One (2106.04): does it recite a judicial exception — an abstract idea, a law of nature or a natural phenomenon?
Step 2A, Prong Two (2106.04(d)): if so, does the claim integrate the exception into a practical application?
Step 2B (2106.05): if not, do the additional elements amount to significantly more than the exception?
Streamlined analysis (2106.06) for claims whose eligibility is self-evident.

How examiners use it

A § 101 rejection should identify the judicial exception, explain why the additional elements do not integrate it into a practical application, and explain why they are not significantly more. Software, diagnostics and business-method claims draw most of these rejections.

On the patent bar

Expect questions that give a claim and ask which step it fails. Know the four statutory categories, the three abstract-idea groupings, and the difference between Prong Two (practical application) and Step 2B (significantly more).

Read the full text

Official title: Patent Subject Matter Eligibility [R-10.2019].

Read MPEP 2106 in full on Wysebridge ↗

Or at the source: USPTO MPEP § 2106.

Questions & answers

What is MPEP 2106?

The USPTO's guidance on patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101, built on the Supreme Court's Alice and Mayo decisions.

What are the steps in MPEP 2106?

Step 1 (statutory category), Step 2A Prong One (recites a judicial exception?), Step 2A Prong Two (integrated into a practical application?), and Step 2B (significantly more?).

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 2106.04(a)(2): Abstract Idea Groupings MPEP 2106.04(d): Integration Into a Practical Application MPEP 2103: The Patent Examination Process

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Cite or share this entry

MPEP.net. “MPEP 2106: Patent Subject Matter Eligibility.” Wysebridge Reference. Content reviewed 9 November 2026.
https://mpep.net/mpep-2106/