Insights

Two recent decisions of the European Patent Office’s Boards of Appeal illustrate a risk faced by patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions: if the application does not describe the AI in enough detail then it can be refused for insufficient disclosure and lack of inventive step.

The proposed European unitary patent system could come into force as early as this year, so it is important for patent owners to begin considering how they will make use of the new system, if at all. This article will explore some of the factors that organisations in the pharmaceutical sector should be considering in advance of the new system coming into effect.

Sensors are everywhere. And there are more of them everyday. Some researchers have predicted that by 2035, there will be 1 trillion “internet of things” (IOT) devices, nearly all of them relying on sensors.

The pursuit of cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy has been put at the heart of the governments plans for the year ahead, with the unveiling of a new Energy Security Bill in the Queen’s Speech.

The European Patent Office (EPO) Guidelines relating to the patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions (CIIs) have been significantly amended following the publication of the seminal Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G1/19 on the patentability of computer simulations, reported here in 2021. The update places the T641/00 “COMVIK” approach at the centre of the test for patentability of CIIs, and includes a new discussion of its application to Artificial Intelligence inventions.

World Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 is here. The official theme of the week is “loneliness”, which seems particularly relevant given the various negative effects the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have had on people’s mental health. We wanted to highlight some of the incredible technological advances taking place to help improve mental health by looking at some recent patent filings.