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Course Details

This CLE webinar will guide patent counsel on subject matter eligibility issues in AI patents. The panel will examine the most recent USPTO eligibility standard and how to address it. The panel will also discuss how the courts and the PTAB have addressed subject matter eligibility in AI cases. The panel will offer best practices for navigating subject matter eligibility and drafting to satisfy patent eligibility requirements.

Faculty

Description

The USPTO determines the subject matter eligibility of AI patent applications, based on Alice and its progeny. Under the two-part test, patents are ineligible if they are laws of nature, natural phenomena, or abstract ideas. The Federal Circuit has provided guidance as to the patent eligibility of computer-implemented inventions that also applies to AI inventions.

The Federal Circuit has indicated that claims rooted in computer technology may have a basis for patent eligibility. Further, the court has indicated that claims listing features that improve computer performance may be patent eligible subject matter. However, in August 2022, the Federal Circuit held in Thaler v. Vidal that an inventor under the United States Patent Act must be a human being.

The scope of AI technology that is patent eligible is an evolving area of law. Understanding the contours of subject matter eligibility enables improved filing decisions and drafting with eligibility requirements in mind which can lead to a greater likelihood of success.

Listen as our authoritative panel of patent attorneys examines the most recent USPTO eligibility standard and how it can be addressed as well as how the courts and the PTAB have viewed subject matter eligibility in AI cases. The panel will offer best practices for navigating subject matter eligibility and drafting to satisfy patent eligibility requirements.

Outline

  1. Subject matter eligibility in AI patent applications
    1. Challenges
    2. USPTO guidance
  2. Court and PTAB treatment
  3. Practical implications and best practices in light of the current guidance and case law

Benefits

The panel will review these and other relevant issues:

  • What are the unique eligibility challenges for AI patent applications?
  • How have the courts treated the issue of subject matter eligibility in AI patents?
  • What steps should patent counsel take to satisfy patent eligibility requirements?