Legal Definitions - Freeman–Walter–Abele test

The Freeman-Walter-Abele test is a legal test used to determine whether a claimed invention is an unpatentable mathematical algorithm. It is an outdated two-step test that was used in the past but has little applicability today.

The test has two steps:

1. Determine whether the algorithm is explicit or inherent in the claim.
2. Determine whether a patent would wholly preempt others from using the algorithm.

For example, if someone claimed a new method for calculating the square root of a number, the Freeman-Walter-Abele test would be used to determine whether this method is patentable. If the method is found to be an unpatentable mathematical algorithm, it cannot be patented.

However, the Freeman-Walter-Abele test is no longer widely used. After the State St. Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Fin. Group case in 1998, the test has little, if any, applicability.