The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a guidance update on patent subject matter eligibility to address innovation in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). 

“The USPTO remains committed to fostering and protecting innovation in critical and emerging technologies, including AI. We look forward to hearing public feedback on this guidance update, which will provide further clarity on evaluating subject matter eligibility of AI inventions while incentivizing innovations needed to solve world and community problems,” Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, said.

This update enhances previous guidance by offering additional clarity and uniformity on evaluating the eligibility of patent claims in applications and granted patents that pertain to AI technology. 

Effective from July 17, 2024, the updates include a background on the USPTO’s initiatives concerning AI and subject matter eligibility. 

It offers an overview of the USPTO’s guidance on patent subject matter eligibility, along with detailed discussions on aspects of the guidance pertinent to AI inventions. This includes analysis of relevant Federal Circuit decisions on subject matter eligibility.

In April,  USPTO released guidance addressing the utilization of AI in submissions to the Office, aimed at both practitioners and the general public.

This announcement follows the issuance of a memorandum by the Office to the Trademark and Patent Trial and Appeal Boards (TTAB and PTAB) two months ago, which provided clarification on the appropriate use of AI tools before these Boards, aligning with existing regulations.