"Categorically excluding AI innovations from patent protection in the United States jeopardizes America's leadership in this critical emerging technology. . . the panel essentially equated any machine learning with an unpatentable 'algorithm' and the remaining additional elements as 'generic computer components,' without adequate explanation. . . . most troubling [the Panel] eschewed the clear teachings of Enfish, and instead substituted only a cursory analysis that ignored this well-settled precedent. Panels should treat such precedent with more care, especially when acting sua sponte."
"This case demonstrates that §§ 102, 103 and 112 are the traditional and appropriate tools to limit patent protection to its proper scope. These statutory provisions should be the focus of examination."
"In a striking early display of directorial authority, newly sworn-in Under Secretary of Commerce and USPTO Director John Squires has vacated a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that had entered a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 against DeepMind Technologies' machine learning patent application. The September 26, 2025 decision in Ex parte Desjardins, Appeal 2024-000567, Application 16/319,040, represents one of Director Squires' first substantive actions since taking office one week ago and offers yet another clear signal that Section 101 reform is building steam."
USPTO Director John Squires vacated a PTAB decision that had introduced a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 against DeepMind Technologies' machine-learning patent application. The decision, Ex parte Desjardins (Appeal 2024-000567, Application 16/319,040), was issued September 26, 2025 and represents an early substantive action by the Director. Squires criticized the panel for equating machine learning with an unpatentable algorithm, treating additional elements as generic computer components, and disregarding Enfish precedent. Squires directed that §§ 102, 103 and 112 are the appropriate tools to define patent scope and urged examination to focus on those provisions.
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