March 5, 2021
written by Alec Royka
Following last week’s post on this blog (AI Patent Trends in the U.S. Patent Office: Is the U.S. Losing Its Lead?), we look deeper into the filing data of AI applications to better understand how the USPTO’s treatment of inventions in this field have evolved over time. AI applications are increasing rapidly, but what happens when these applications get into substantive prosecution? Patent practitioners who understand this information can better help their clients avoid some of the pitfalls present, potentially resulting in higher allowance rates and less office actions to disposition. The data presented throughout this post was compiled using Juristat and focuses on the USPTO’s Art Units which handle the greatest number of AI filings (2122, 2129, 2121, 2124, 2123, 2128, 2127), further filtered by USPC 706, which relates to “Data Processing – Artificial Intelligence.”<... Read more
February 25, 2021
As noted in an earlier post on this blog (Using AI to Track AI Patents at the USPTO), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continues to see tremendous growth in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI). While the USPTO’s October, 2020 Report “Inventing AI: Tracing the diffusion of artificial intelligence with U.S. patents” utilizes a broader set of metrics to gauge the number of AI filings generally, a simplified claims-based metric shows that U.S. applicants appear to be losing ground as the dominant filers in this field to increasingly diverse global competition. <... Read more
February 10, 2021
As a follow-up to the previous post on AI Initiatives at the EPO, we provide an update on the activities by the JPO – 1) creation of a new Team for Supporting AI Examinations in January 2021, and 2) a recent publication of a PCT application, titled Management System And Management Method, filed by JAPAN AS REPRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER OF THE JAPAN PATENT OFFICE.<... Read more
January 29, 2021
Terminology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have become commonplace – much like “text message,” “email,” and “smart device.” Turn on the news and you are very likely to hear such terms in various capacities. Such new-found popularity is bound to cause industries to revamp their thinking; their organization; their goals. It is also bound to instill unease in those concerned that the machines will take over.<... Read more
January 15, 2021
Some of the most impressive AI breakthroughs are the result of separate contributions and heavy investments made by both large and small players in the tech-world. While many inventions in AI will be directed to cutting edge products, such as the in-home virtual assistant or the self-driving car, a lot of patentable innovations are directed to products which the public will never see or use, such as innovations in Factory Automation (FA).<... Read more