In legal terms, any person who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent, subject to the conditions and requirements of the law. A “process” is defined by law as a process, act or method, and primarily includes industrial or technical processes. A process is the way an invention performs rather than the way it is structured. Computer software performs a certain way, it makes certain processes. Another example would be the process for making a drug. “Machine” should need no explanation. The term “manufacture” refers to articles which are made, and includes all manufactured articles. “Composition of matter” relates to chemical compositions and may include mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical compounds. Basically, you can patent things that are made or the processes for making the products. Regrettably, in patent law, the concept of obviousness is far from...