The World's First Manga Explaining AI/IoT Examination Guidelines

• Examination Guidelines in Manga: AI/IoT Edition (Japan Patent Office Website) (in Japanese)

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1. Outline of Examination Guidelines in Manga: AI/IoT Edition

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) is leading the world in publishing examination guidelines and case examples regarding AI and IoT technologies. Now, it has released the world's first manga-based version, namely, Examination Guidelines in Manga: AI/IoT Edition. Patent examination guidelines require a high level of specialized knowledge. The aim of publishing them as a manga is to get people who are not patent specialists interested in patent examination.

Features of Examination Guidelines in Manga: AI/IoT Edition

• The main characters are the president of a venture and its employee. This will make it feel more relevant for the audience it is aimed at: small and medium-sized enterprises, ventures, universities, etc.
• The manga explains not only the characteristic determination aspects of AI and IoT-related technologies, but also the basic concepts regarding patent examinations that are common to all technical fields. This means it can help people who are unfamiliar with the basic concepts regarding patent examinations and want to learn about them. It can also help people who are interested in technical fields other than AI and IoT.
• The manga was created by the staff in the JPO's Examination Standards Office.

2. Background

In response to society's growing interest in AI and IoT-related technologies, the JPO published patent examination case examples pertaining to IoT-related technologies in September 2016 and March 2017. It followed these with ones pertaining to AI-related technologies in January 2019.

• Patent examination case examples pertaining to IoT-related technologies (in Japanese)
• Patent examination case examples pertaining to AI-related technologies (in Japanese)

The Intellectual Property Promotion Plan 2019 stipulates that the above-mentioned examination case examples are to be disseminated. Accordingly, the JPO has already introduced them at many seminars, international conferences, etc. In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic making it difficult to hold seminars people attend in person, the JPO continued to disseminate examination case examples as IP ePlat content.

• IP ePlat (in Japanese)

However, the examination case examples introduced with regard to AI and IoT-related technologies focused on ones that involved judgments specific to the technical fields concerned. This meant they were difficult to understand for people who were not familiar with the basic concepts regarding patent examinations that are common to all technical fields.

"Examination Guidelines in Manga: AI/IoT Edition" has been published to address this. The aim is to help many people, including both the general public and experts, understand the basic concepts regarding patent examinations for AI and IoT technologies, and get them interested.

Division in Charge

Examination Standards Office, Administrative Affairs Division, Patent and Design Examination Department (Physics, Optics, Social Infrastructure and Design), Japan Patent Office