The Japan Patent Office (JPO) recently has been focusing on efforts to facilitate accelerated and more efficient examination of software-related inventions, including AI-related inventions, in which field the number of patent applications has been rapidly increasing. For example, in 2021, the JPO established an examination support team that collects and compiles information and know-how from different examining divisions to serve as a hub for examination of AI-related inventions, and to assist examiners in different technical fields with the examination of applications for AI-related inventions. Further, the JPO has been upgrading the examination guidelines for software-related inventions, including AI-related technologies and IoT-related technologies, in order to make them more comprehensible to examiners and other users. The following JPO website introduces recent developments at the JPO, including examination guidelines and case examples for AI and IoT-related technologies, as well as user-friendly "manga" (comic-strip format) examination guidelines for these fields.
 

https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/news/keyfeatures/index.html
 

https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/system/laws/rule/guideline/patent/comic_ai_iot_e.html

 
Summary prepared by the International Information Group
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