Rejections On Non-Statutory Subject Matter (35 U.S.C. § 101)

In § 101 rejections the patent office is usually saying that the subject matter is not useful, either because the invention doesn't work or because it has no value. Those rejections are fairly easy to overcome by establishing minimal operability .

"The inoperability standard for utility applies primarily to claims with impossible limitations. [citations omitted] Moreover, where a patent discloses several alternative combinations of methods (as most systems claims will), the party asserting inoperability must show that all disclosed alternatives are inoperative or not enabled. [citation omitted]"

The patent office can also issue § 101 rejections on the grounds that the subject matter is not patentable, but such rejections are rare. Methods of treating humans are patentable, methods of doing business are patentable, and software is patentable . It is almost always possible to claim an invention by properly reciting the subject matter.