Quantum News Briefs August 27: Intellectual property tips for America’s Quantum Hub • Amazon Braket launches Rigetti Ankaa-2 superconducting device • Quantum coherence’ survives in ultracold molecules • Unconventional interface superconductor could benefit quantum computing

JDSupra: “Intellectual property tips for America’s Quantum Hub”

There is justifiably much excitement surrounding the quantum computing boom in Chicago. It is important, though, that innovators remember to prioritize intellectual property strategy when developing these new quantum technologies. Innovators, therefore, need to understand three key challenges and develop sound intellectual property strategies to overcome them. Andrew Velzen of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP has writes on JDSupra that “seeking patent protection within the quantum space can be more complex and nuanced than seeking patent protection in other technical fields”. He provides an excellent description (summarized below) of those three IP challenges in his August 22 article in JD Supra.

1. The “abstract idea” barrier
Almost certainly the biggest challenge facing quantum patent applications is subject-matter eligibility. Patents protect inventions, and there are multiple requirements that must be satisfied.
Of most relevance for quantum technology, though, is that you cannot get a patent on anything that falls into a broad category of technologies classified as “abstract ideas.” This prohibition was cemented by the U.S. Supreme Court in the famous Alice case from 2014. [6] Since 2014, the exclusion of “abstract ideas” from patent protection has been the bane of countless software inventions. In the case of quantum technologies, this barrier makes it significantly more challenging to obtain a patent on purely algorithmic inventions, such as quantum computing algorithms that can be described in purely mathematical terms.

2. Collaboration and joint ownership
There are two particularly sticky situations that come to mind when considering quantum patents. The first is that large amounts of funding (especially in these nascent days of quantum computing) is coming from the federal government. When the U.S. government funds the development of an invention, it retains some rights to the invention.
The second situation occurs when multiple different entities are funding the research and development efforts (e.g., under a “joint research agreement”). Such a situation raises questions regarding who owns any resulting patent,

3. Buying time
One additional consideration for quantum innovators is time horizon. Issued patents last for 20 years from the filing date of the patent application. given the nature of quantum technology, it may be many years before the invention in question would ultimately find its way into a marketable product. As a result, it can be difficult for investors to make relatively expensive upfront decisions without much (or any) knowledge of the ultimate market for an eventual product.