Pela definição do termo, segundo a Lei de Patentes/EUA, esta poderia ser uma opção.

- In United States patent law, an article of manufacture (also termed a manufacture) is one of the four principal categories of things that may be patented. The other three are a process (also termed a method), a machine, and a composition of matter. In United States patent law, that same terminology has been in use since the first patent act in 1790 (with the exception that processes were formerly termed "arts").
Examples of articles of manufacture are ceramics, cast metal articles, ... Articles of manufacture may have parts, but any interaction among the parts is ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_of_manufacture

- Article of manufacture
A simple object made by humans or machines. Articles of manufacture include all devices, and are one class of inventions covered by patents.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/help/item/Article-of-manufa...