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ARTICLE · 24 JULY 2024

USPTO Issues Guidance Update On Subject Matter Eligibility Of Artificial Intelligence

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On July 17, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published guidance regarding the patent subject matter eligibility of claims concerning technology...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Haixia Lin
Haixia Lin
Gilbert T. Smolenski
Gilbert T. Smolenski
Ryan Potts
Ryan Potts
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On July 17, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published guidance regarding the patent subject matter eligibility of claims concerning technology applicable to artificial intelligence (AI).1 The guidance addresses recent Federal Circuit cases regarding subject matter eligibility that the USPTO believes are relevant to AI-related inventions. The USPTO also simultaneously published three new examples in the subject matter eligibility index, which is a tool to assist stakeholders and patent examiners in evaluating the subject matter eligibility of pending claims.

Overview of the AI Guidance Update

The USPTO analyzes subject matter eligibility under the Supreme Court's Alice/Mayo two-step framework. This guidance is not intended to modify the USPTO's current application of the Alice/Mayo framework. Instead, the guidance discusses recent cases that are relevant to each step of the eligibility analysis for AI inventions and provides three

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