Examining the intersection of AI technology with patent eligible
subject matter is a challenge for patent offices around the world.
Many offices, but in particular the EPO and USPTO, have well
established processes for examining inventions, including those
related to AI, which may encompass a mix of eligible and excluded
features. Regardless of the underlying legislation they are
intended to enforce, these processes generally seek to distinguish
that which is anchored in the technical, and consequently
patentable, from that which is abstract, purely theoretical,
mathematical, or business related, and consequently excluded from
patent protection in many jurisdictions.
Those of us practicing in this field are well used to crafting
claims and arguments that try to characterize and present the
invention in front of us in a way that maximises our chances of
navigating these examination processes successfully, and so
obtaining commercially valuable protection for the
