Patent Issues for Factory Automation Inventions in AI

Some of the most impressive AI breakthroughs are the result of separate contributions and heavy investments made by both large and small players in the tech-world. While many inventions in AI will be directed to cutting edge products, such as the in-home virtual assistant or the self-driving car, a lot of patentable innovations are directed to products which the public will never see or use, such as innovations in Factory Automation (FA).

Factory Automation components have many different features which are the subjects of numerous patent applications filed at the USPTO, such as “machine tools” (robotics, for example); controllers (servo controllers and programmable logic controller (PLC)); remote sensors; and data/parameter management techniques, just to name a few.  Each of these features presents a unique set of challenges towards obtaining a patent, with some of these challenges being based on their very nature alone.

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