Source: Crowell & Moring

Crowell & Moring discusses a significant legal development in intellectual property law following the USPTO's designation of the Ex parte Desjardins decision as precedential on November 4, 2025. This decision marks a turning point for AI patent eligibility, as it overruled a previous rejection that had classified a method for training a machine learning model as a non-patentable "abstract idea." The Appeals Review Panel (ARP) determined that claims directed at improving the training process of an AI model—specifically to avoid "catastrophic forgetting" and optimize performance—constitute a specific technical improvement to computer functionality, rather than just mathematical calculations.

The article explains that this ruling provides a clearer path for patenting AI innovations by emphasizing that software and AI can offer non-abstract technological improvements akin to hardware. As a result, the USPTO has issued updated guidelines instructing examiners to focus on whether the claimed invention solves a specific technical problem, rather than dismissing AI elements as generic computer components. This shifts the scrutiny for AI patents away from subject matter eligibility (Section 101) towards more traditional patentability criteria like novelty and non-obviousness, encouraging more detailed and problem-oriented patent disclosures.