Mid-Year 2024 Patent Update: U.S., EPO, and Chinese Software-Related Patents Hold Steady As we reach the midpoint of 2024, recent data indicates that the trends in software-related patent grants across the United States (USPTO), Europe (EPO), and China (CNIPA) have remained consistent. This update comes a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank decision, which continues to spark debates about the patentability of software claims versus their classification as abstract ideas. Software continues to be a major area of focus in patents, especially in sectors like Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, cybersecurity, and Information Technology (IT). For the first half of 2024, 61% of utility patents issued in the United States were related to software, a slight decrease from 62.7% in 2023. Among these, 7.9% were related to AI, showing a minor increase from 7.8% the previous year. In Europe, 50.2% of granted patents were software-related, a marginal rise from 50.1% in 2023, with AI-related patents in this category also increasing to 3.5% from 2.9% last year. In China, 40.7% of granted patents were software-related, slightly down from 42.4% in 2023, but AI-related patents grew to 8% of software-related patents, up from 7.4% in 2023. Despite these steady figures, the global patent community continues to wait for legislative action from Congress on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023. Given the 2024 election year, significant legislative changes are unlikely before 2025. For more detailed information, you can read the full article by Raymond Millien, published on August 20, 2024, on IPWatchdog: https://ipwatchdog.com/2024/08/20/mid-year-2024-update-u-s-epo-chinese-software-related-patent-grants-remain-steady/id=180246/

Posted by InventorNews at 2024-08-22 14:15:25 UTC