Laws of Nature / State of Art Interface

The laws of nature exclusion is one of the basic exceptions to patent eligibility in  many jurisdictions. While the extent of its applicability may vary from country to country, it is recognized as one of the important elements for subject matter enquiry with respect to biology based inventions. Laws of nature include products of nature, natural relationships and natural phenomena, among others. The test that is commonly followed for determining whether an invention falls within the scope of laws of nature or not is the hand of man test. The test  precludes anything that is obtained by human intervention from the scope of the exclusion.