アメリカ特許商標庁（USPTO）は、2024年7月17日から適用する人工知能（AI）を含む新しい技術イノベーションに対応するため、特許対象適格性（35 § USC 101）に関するガイドライン更新版を公示した。
この最新の更新版では、AI技術関連する発明を含む特許出願と特許クレームの対象適格性を評価する方法にさらなる明確さと一貫性を示すことを目的とし、以前のガイダンスに基づき新しい事例を3件含めており、クレームが抽象的なアイデアを述べているかどうか、またはクレームが抽象的なアイデアを実際のアプリケーションに統合しているかどうかなど以下の通り
■ Claims to “collect[ing] information on a user’s movements and location history [and] electronically record[ing] that data” (i.e., “creating a digital travel log”), Weisner v. Google LLC, 51 F.4th 1073, 1082 (Fed. Cir. 2022) (citation omitted). Under the USPTO’s guidance, this is an example of “managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people.”
■ A claim to “monitoring the location of a mobile thing and notifying a party in advance of arrival of that mobile thing [ ] amount[s] to nothing more than the fundamental business practice of providing advance notification of the pickup or delivery of a mobile thing,” agreeing with the district court that “business practices designed to advise customers of the status of delivery of their goods have existed at least for several decades, if not longer.”Elec. Commc’n Techs., LLC v. ShoppersChoice.com, LLC, 958 F.3d 1178, 1181 (Fed. Cir. 2020). Under the USPTO’s guidance, this is an example of a fundamental economic principle or practice.
■ Claims to methods for detecting fraud in financial transactions during a payment clearing process, including determining when there is a match between two financial records, sending a notification to a bank with authorization to process the financial transaction when there is a match, and sending a notification to a bank to not process the financial transaction when there is not a match,Bozeman Fin. LLC v. Fed. Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 955 F.3d 971, 978 (Fed. Cir. 2020). Under the USPTO’s guidance, this is an example of a fundamental economic principle or practice.
ガイドラインの更新版は、以下のURLで確認することができる。また、USPTOのAI関連情報サイトもご参考まで。
参照サイト：https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-issues-ai-subject-matter-eligibility-guidance
AI関連情報サイト https://www.uspto.gov/initiatives/artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-reports