U.S. Patent Eligibility problems solved by USPTO

U.S. Patent Eligibility problems solved by USPTO

According to the press release, MATTHEW will “help examiners tackle the thorniest of eligibility questions as to whether claims presented are an abstract idea or a patent-eligible invention”

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that it is employing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that will finally solve the problem of patent eligibility analysis for examiners. The AI system is called “McConaughey Agentic Tasking Technology Helping Examiner Workload,” or “MATTHEW”. It is the latest tool launched for use in the exam process, after the Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot Program or ASAP for patent prior art references followed and the Trademark Classification Agentic Codification Tool or ‘Class ACT’ for trademark searching.

According to the press release, MATTHEW will “help examiners tackle the thorniest of eligibility questions as to whether claims presented are an abstract idea or a patent-eligible invention”. The U.S. patent system’s well-documented problems with eligibility since Alice v. CLS Bank will be largely solved with the launch of this new tool. With eligibility being evaluated by an AI system, courts will be unable to invalidate claims that have been granted using MATTHEW’s fool-proof algorithm. Responding to the USPTO’s announcement, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judge who spoke on condition of anonymity to safeguard their anti-patent street credibility, indicated that they pledge to uphold all eligibility determinations made using MATTHEW. The judge reportedly said, “We have had no idea how to determine Section 101 eligibility for the last decade plus, so we welcome this solution and look forward to affirming all USPTO analyses going forward. In fact, don’t bother appealing on eligibility grounds anymore—what MATTHEW says, goes.”