Patent decision

BL number

O/296/21

Concerning rights in

GB1808323.8

Hearing Officer

Miss J Pullen

Decision date

22 April 2021

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Imagination Technologies Limited

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (allowed)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The invention relates to a method of using a deep neural network (DNN) accelerator for implementing traditional computer vision algorithms. This includes receiving a sequence of traditional computer vision algorithm operations and mapping them to a set of mathematically equivalent neural network primitives. A neural network accelerator processes input data, including images, according to the generated neural network that represents the traditional computer vision algorithm.

The Hearing Officer applied the Aerotel/Macrossan approach and found the invention made a technical contribution over and above its implementation as a computer program, so it was not excluded as a computer program as such. The claimed combination of generating a neural network representing the traditional computer vision algorithm and processing images via that network, using a hardware neural network accelerator, was found to produce a technical effect of processing image data more efficiently and to be a technical solution to a technical problem.

Full decisionO/296/21  110Kb