Squires Vacates Appeals Board Rejection of Machine Learning Patent

The newly-appointed chief of the US Patent and Trademark Office vacated a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that would have denied patent protection for a machine learning-related invention.

USPTO Director John Squires reversed the PTAB’s affirmation of a patent examiner’s rejection, calling the board’s reasoning “overbroad” and “troubling.” While acknowledging that confusion around patent eligibility standards made the PTAB’s approach understandable, he argued that"categorically excluding AI innovations from patent protection in the United States jeopardizes America’s leadership in this critical emerging technology,” in a decision on request for rehearing filed Sept. 26.

In reversing the decision, Squires ...