“Original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed.”

Judicial Interpretation: Requires a human creator (Thaler v. Perlmutter) and a creative spark above sweat-of-the-brow compilation (Feist).

“Excludes ideas, procedures, systems, methods of operation, concepts, and principles.”

Judicial Interpretation: The critical boundary ensuring patent law retains jurisdiction over functional mechanisms and computing methods (Baker v. Selden; Lotus v. Borland).