On May 13, 2020, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) overturned an Examiner’s decision in the matter of Ex parte Kensuke Matsumura, Masayiki Watanabe, and Yusaku Miyazaki, finding instead that the appellant’s claims directed towards a mold cleaning system are patent eligible and unanticipated.
The device in question utilizes a laser to remove mold based on 3D image data collected by a camera. The patent application was originally rejected due to similarities to a mold cleaning system patented by inventor Geary Victor Soska; however, the PTAB found that while Soska’s invention contained a video camera, it used information retrieved from a database rather than 3D image data collected by the video camera to control the robot.
