"Business-related Invention" is an invention in which a business method is realized using information and communication technology (ICT).

  The purpose of the patent system is to contribute to the development of industry by protecting technology. Thus, even if one comes up with a groundbreaking idea about a business method, such as sales management, production management, banking, or corporate accounting, the idea itself cannot be protected by patent.

  On the other hand, an invention in which such an idea is realized using ICT (e.g., smartphones, communication networks, web servers, databases, etc.) would be protected by patent as a business-related invention (e.g., a sales and service support system, an integrated production management system, a financial system, etc.).

  In patent examination practice, business-related inventions are treated as being included in computer software-related inventions. However, in this article, business-related inventions are defined as inventions of patent applications to which G06Q is assigned under IPC or FI.

  With the progress of new technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), promoting the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the utilization of business-related inventions is attracting attention.

  In detail, as one model of IoT, a model consisting of the following steps is considered:

In this case, it may be possible to protect a system embodying a company's own business model in (5) the utilization and (6) the establishment of the business model as a patent for a business-related invention.

  As illustrated in Graph 1, the number of patent applications for business-related inventions in Japan has been transitioning in a very distinctive way. The downward trend after the application boom in 2000 turned to an increase in around 2012, and 13,411 applications were filed in 2022.

  This increase is assumed to be due to the activation of research and development for solution business following the change in the industrial structure from "products” to “services." Another reason is the expansion of fields where new services using ICT are being created (such as financial fields) due to developments in AI and IoT technologies in addition to the spread of smartphones and SNS.

  As illustrated in Graph 2, the patent grant rate of business-related inventions was initially sluggish, but has been rising year by year. In recent years, it has remained steady at around 70%, which is similar to that of technical fields as a whole.

  As illustrated in Graph 3, according to the transition of the number of applications for business-related inventions by field, the top three fields in 2021 are as follows:
  (1) Services in general (accommodation industry, restaurant industry, real estate industry, transportation industry, communications industry, etc.) (G06Q50/ excluding specific fields (*1) and G06Q90/,99/);
  (2) Administration; Management (in-house operation systems, production management, inventory management, project management, staffing, etc.) (G06Q10/); and
  (3) EC; Marketing (E-commerce, auction, market forecast, online advertisements, etc.) (G06Q30/).

  The increasing number of applications for "Services in general (G06Q50/ excluding specific fields and G06Q90/,99/)" is considered to be due to the diversification of services provided on smartphones and online in various types of industry. In particular, in the transportation, accommodation, and real estate industries, cab dispatch services, private accommodation business, and real estate technologies are expanding, respectively, and these are considered to be the reasons for the increase in patent applications.

  The field that has shown an especially high growth rate since 2015 is "Administration; Management (G06Q10/)." A typical example of an invention of this field is an invention utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize in-house business systems and inventory management.

  The increasing number of applications for "EC; Marketing (G06Q30/)" is considered to be due to the rise of e-commerce including flea market apps and online auctions, and the accompanying activation of marketing and advertising businesses.

  Following the top three fields, the field with the next largest number of applications is "Finance (G06Q20/,40/)" (including FinTech). One possible reason for that is the spread of financial services that allow users to easily utilize via smartphones, such as smartphone payment and household account apps.

  Although the number of applications related to "Primary industry (G06Q50/02)" and "Secondary industry (G06Q50/04,50/08)" is small, the number of applications has increased by approximately six times for the primary industry, and approximately three times for the secondary industry from 2015 to 2022. It indicates that they tend to solve problems by using ICT in a broad range of fields.

(*1) Specific fields: secondary industry (manufacturing industry, construction industry, etc.) (G06Q50/04,50/08); energy industry (G06Q50/06); primary industry (agriculture, fishing, mining, etc.) (G06Q50/02); government or public services (G06Q50/26); and education (G06Q50/20)

  Business-related inventions are highly compatible with AI (especially machine learning technology that makes decisions based on data learning), and there are increasing cases of solving problems in business by using AI. In addition, there has been an increase number of cases where generative AI, such as ChatGPT, is used in business.

  As illustrated in Graph 4, the number of applications for AI-related inventions has been rising since 2015 in all the top four fields in business-related inventions. The fields where AI is remarkably utilized are "Administration; Management (G06Q10/)" and "Services in general (G06Q50/ excluding specific fields and G06Q90/,99/)." It is considered that the number of inventions realizing prediction or optimization of targets by using AI is increasing.

(Our Comments)
  As mentioned above, in Japan, the number of applications for business-related inventions is increasing along with the development of ICT utilization, particularly in the fields of "Services in general," "Administration; Management," "EC; Marketing," and "Finance."

  While business-related inventions are inventions that clearly reflect the results of technological innovation related to ITC, they can also be regarded to be inventions familiar to customers or users, from the perspective of services. Providing a convenient and attractive service and increasing the number of users of the service will make it easier to collect data. As a result, a better service can be provided. Therefore, obtaining a patent right for a business-related invention promotes a cycle of data collection, provision of a better service, further data collection, and provision of an even better service, and it makes easier for the patent right holder to efficiently bring the users and data into the scope of the service they provide.

  Further, as mentioned above, business-related inventions are highly compatible with AI-related inventions. Thus, actively filing such applications will give a company advantages in both the core technology related to AI and a service-related technology. It may have a significant impact on the future business development of the company. This article does not mention to filing trends in various countries in the world, but particularly in China, the number of applications has been increasing outstandingly as compared to other countries, for not only business-related inventions but also AI-related inventions (see (1) and (2)). In view of such a situation, it is expected that applications for business-related inventions will be more and more important and that the number of such applications in Japan will further increase in the future.

[References]
(1) Recent trends in business-related inventions:
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/gaiyo/sesaku/biz_pat.html#anchor1-2
(2) Survey on patent application situation of AI-related inventions:
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/gaiyo/sesaku/ai/ai_shutsugan_chosa.html