The future is digital, but the European patent system was created with physical inventions in mind. Join European patent attorney Bastian Best as he explores the possibilities and limits of the European patent system for digital innovations, sharing his first-hand insights and practical tips along the way.
Of course, an invention needs to be "novel" to be patentable. But does any difference over the prior art do the trick? Or does there have to be a technically relevant difference? I sat down with Patrick Heckeler to discuss a recent EPO decision involving that question.
What types of inventions in database technology are patentable in Europe? The EPO guidelines will be updated on 1 March 2021 with a new section specifically on database management systems and information retrieval. In this episode I will walk you through the final draft of the new section to see how clear the guidance is.
Basic groundwork today. In this episode we're going through ten EPO Board of Appeal decisions which relate to AI inventions. Topics include technical character, clarity, obviousness and sufficiency of disclosure.
In this (first!) episode of The Best Practice podcast, I'll walk you through the section on AI and machine learning in the EPO’s patent examination guidelines. I'll make the point that they are too restrictive when it comes to patenting AI innovations. At the end of the episode, I'm also sharing some of my best tips for how to draft AI patent applications so that they fulfill what’s in the guidelines.
