For a field that can become so complex in practice, in theory patent info quite simple. An patent is a grant of the exclusive legal right to an invention. In the United States, a invention is defined as a product, process or improvement that is new, useful and non-obvious.
Patent law specifically states that it is not possible to patent ideas – specifically “mere ideas.”. This does not mean, however, that ideas have to be turned into a concrete reality to receive a patent. That is far from the case, in fact as explained by Invent Help patenting agency.
The Patent Office does not evaluate applications to patent ideas on how close they are to becoming reality or even their scientific validity for that matter. Invention applications are judged on whether they meet the three criteria (novelty, utility and non-obviousness) and whether the idea has been “reduced to practice.”
So if you can create a complete description process to realize your idea, you can patent it as you can see from new invention videos on YouTube. Even if the process you describe uses technology that does not yet exist.. The fact that nobody has ever succeeded in realizing this invention is irrelevant to the patent application as it the remoteness of the likelihood that anyone ever will. As long as it meets the three criteria of novel (by a long shot), useful, and non-obvious, that’s enough to receive a patent.
