WRITTEN BY TOBY MAK
On 1 February 2020, the CNIPA brought its revisions on examining computer-related inventions (“New AIRelated Revisions”) into eff ect. These New AI-Related Revisions provide clearer guidance on determining whether a computer related invention is directed to patentable subject matter. They will be welcomed by the applicants as they should make patenting computer-related inventions easier, and the related prosecution smoother
On 11 November 2019, the CNIPA published draft revisions to its patent examination guidelines for computer-related inventions (“New AI-Related Revisions”). Th ese were fi nalised on 31 December 2019, and became eff ective on 1 February 2020. In general, the changes follow the direction in the earlier revisions in 2017, reported in my article published in the August 2017 issue of the CIPA Journal. Specifi cally, as long as a claim has a technical feature like a computer-implemented step, a non-patentable subject matter objection should not be raised.
This article was written by our IP Expert Toby Mak and originally published in the CIPA Journal.
Details
- Publication date
- 29 April 2020
- Author
- Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises