Is it possible to patent a particular implementation and use case of a well-known statistical technique?

Question

I have to be intentionally vague for obvious reasons.

The technique is standard and reasonably well known amongst Bayesian statisticians. However, I have adapted the technique to a particular use case and the details of the implementation are quite different from what existing papers talk about.

I've seen some papers or blogs say "[this technique] can be extended to [use case]" however none of them go into any more detail than that.

Is this kind of thing patentable?

or

Answers: 2 public & 0 private

Steven weinrieb
Patent Attorney

It could possibly be patentable. If you are claiming it as an apparatus, system, or product, you want to effectively claim it functionally so as to make it clear that it is specifically useful for your noted case. If you claim it as a method, then you want to claim the novelty/unobviousness steps as a step for........and then state what it is doing. Without more details it is difficult to advise you, but from what you state, if it is effectively a new use of a known thing, that is possibly patentable because you are achieving a new/unforeseen result which, in patents, is always important.

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