Thinking Makes It So

Jon and Catie walk through US Patent 9,037,464, Google's patent on the method behind word2vec, which turns each word into a list of numbers. Starting from why a computer needs words as numbers, they build up to what claim one covers, how Google has kept the patent family open since 2013, and four drafting lessons for anyone patenting artificial intelligence.

Sources:
US 9,037,464 B1, Computing numeric representations of words in a high-dimensional space: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9037464B1/en
Claims of US 9,037,464: https://patents.justia.com/patent/9037464
US 9,740,680 B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9740680B1/en
US 10,922,488 B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10922488B1/en
US 2026/0170243 A1 (Application 19/360,947): https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260170243A1/en
Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Space (arXiv, version 1): https://arxiv.org/abs/1301.3781v1
Word2vec (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word2vec

Read the article: https://burbagelaw.com/podcast.html

Narrated with the assistance of AI. Nothing in this podcast is legal advice.

Show Notes

Jon and Catie walk through US Patent 9,037,464, Google's patent on the method behind word2vec, which turns each word into a list of numbers. Starting from why a computer needs words as numbers, they build up to what claim one covers, how Google has kept the patent family open since 2013, and four drafting lessons for anyone patenting artificial intelligence. Sources: US 9,037,464 B1, Computing numeric representations of words in a high-dimensional space: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9037464B1/en Claims of US 9,037,464: https://patents.justia.com/patent/9037464 US 9,740,680 B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9740680B1/en US 10,922,488 B1: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10922488B1/en US 2026/0170243 A1 (Application 19/360,947): https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260170243A1/en Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Space (arXiv, version 1): https://arxiv.org/abs/1301.3781v1 Word2vec (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word2vec Read the article: https://burbagelaw.com/podcast.html Narrated with the assistance of AI. Nothing in this podcast is legal advice.

What is Thinking Makes It So?

Artificial intelligence patent law, from a registered patent attorney. Every Monday, the week's developments: Federal Circuit decisions, Patent Office guidance, and what the largest AI companies are filing. Every Friday, original data computed from Patent Office records. On Wednesdays, a longer episode on the Supreme Court, the inventions that changed things, and what Shakespeare can teach a lawyer. On Saturdays, one granted artificial intelligence patent, explained from what the technology does to what the patent lets its owner stop others from doing. And a short episode on each new Federal Circuit decision on artificial intelligence patents. From Jon Burbage of Burbage Law, PC, in Salt Lake City. Narrated with the assistance of AI. Nothing in this podcast is legal advice.