Patenting an Artificial Neural Network in the UK

The UK High Court recently issued a significant judgement on the application for a patent directed to an artificial intelligence network and overturned the UK IPO’s rejection of the patent application. The court disapproved the argument that the recommendation system, controlled by a trained artificial neural network (ANN), was excluded...

Assessing computer-implemented inventions – the British Approach

The UK Patents Act has the same exclusions on patentability as the European Patent Convention, but the case law over the years has diverged slightly in its approach to assessing whether an application is excluded from protection. The main case now referred to is the Aerotel case (Aerotel Ltd v...

Searching and Classifying Quantum Patents

Quantum technologies are a rapidly developing field of science and engineering that exploits the properties of quantum physics to perform tasks that would be impossible or impractical with classical physics. Quantum technologies include quantum simulation, quantum sensing and metrology, quantum computation, and quantum communication. However, quantum technologies also pose significant...

Protective Letters and Patent Infringement

A protective letter is a legal submission that can be filed by an alleged infringer in a patent infringement case. Its purpose is to provide the court with information about the alleged infringer’s position on the patent in question. The letter can include arguments against infringement of the patent, about the...

Trade Fairs, the European Unified Patent Court and Infringement

Recent decisions in the local divisions of the European Unified Patent Court demonstrate that the UPC system is patent (plaintiff) friendly and is prepared to grant emergency injunctions at short notice to stop alleged infringers from showcasing products on trade fairs. Indeed, the first preliminary injunction issued by the UPC...

US Clampdown on High-Tec Investments

US President Joe Biden's Executive Order clamping down on high-tec investments in China has also major implications for European companies. The order must be complied with by any "United States Person" and this includes not only companies with headquarters in the US or organised under laws of US states, but...

Artificial Intelligence, Inventive Step and Disclosure

A further decision from the European Patent Office’s Boards of Appeal illustrates the challenges faced by patent applicants when filing for patents for artificial intelligence (AI) inventions but also provides a number of suggestions on the level of detail that the patent office requires when disclosing the invention. The decision...