Fresh Guidance On AI Patents From UK IPO - Patent - UK

The UK Intellectual Property Office (Patent Office) has provided fresh guidance on patent applications for artificial intelligence (AI) inventions, including helpful scenarios explaining how to successfully gain AI patents from the UK IPO. This guidance is designed to help ensure the UK remains a cost-efficient forum for applicants to get granted patents in this rapidly evolving area. Artificial intelligence is now applied in a vast range of fields, from pharmaceuticals to the automotive industry, and from industrial chemicals to fintech. The enormous range of possible uses has created challenges for the Patent Office when it comes to examining patent applications related to AI inventions. The UK IPO applies a framework developed by the English Courts when assessing whether computer-implemented inventions, including AI inventions, are excluded from patentability as merely "computer programs as such" or if they escape the exclusion by providing a technical contribution. This involves assessing a number of "signposts" for patentability.