What is the requirement of industrial applicability?

A further requirement of patentability is that the invention has industrial applicability. An invention is usually industrially applicable when it can find an application or manufacture in trade or industry including agriculture at the time of filing.

As in most cases the interest of the applicant in the invention implies a potential commercial application, this requirement is often met. However, in the field of biotechnology, this requirement is also used by the European Patent Office to assess whether in fact the invention is at a stage that its industrial application can be immediately recognized. For instance, DNA sequences which are only described as such and for which no function is plausibly demonstrated, are not considered patentable based on lack of industrial applicability.