When examining whether the claimed subject-matter has a technical character as a whole (Art. 52(1), (2) and (3)), expressions such as "support vector machine", "reasoning engine" or "neural network" are looked at carefully, because they usually refer to abstract models devoid of technical character. (G-II, 3.3.1, Para. 2, 2018 version)
Terms such as "support vector machine", "reasoning engine" or "neural network" may, depending on the context, merely refer to abstract models or algorithms and thus do not, on their own, necessarily imply the use of a technical means. This has to be taken into account when examining whether the claimed subject-matter has a technical character as a whole (Art. 52(1), (2) and (3)). (G-II, 3.3.1, Para. 2, 2019 version)
However, if it is established that the mathematical method produces a technical effect when it is applied to a field of technology and/or adapted to a specific technical implementation, the computational efficiency of the steps affecting that established technical effect is to be taken into account when assessing inventive step. (G-II, 3.3, Para. 3, 2019 version)
“…in the hope of solving the objective technical problem or in the expectation of some improvement or advantage.” (Part G-VII, 5.3, Para. 2, 2018 version)
