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Patentability of AI-related inventions under the Rules of the EPC

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In the context of the bachelor course IP in the Digital Single Market and the Intellectual Property and Knowledge Management (IPKM) master programme, we proudly present the expert lecture by Dr. Patrick Heckeler from Bardehle Pagenberg patent attorneys on 20 October 2022, at 18:30 CET in the Statenzaal, Faculty of Law. Patrick will talk about whether and how an AI technology can be protected by patents under the European Patent Convention. We will also discuss what implication patent protection has for AI technologies and the market. Feel warmly invited to join the discussion in the Statenzaal!

Abstract

AI-related inventions are a specific sub-type of computer-implemented inventions. A typical example is a system that has the ability to adapt according to experience gained by the system itself. According to the EPO’s case law, the same principles apply to the examination of patentability of such inventions as to the examination of conventional computer-implemented inventions. However, due to the complexity of AI systems and the fact that AI systems often function as a "black box", the application of these principles can be difficult in practice. Therefore, this lecture provides an overview of the most recent case law of the EPO’s Boards of Appeal with respect to AI-related inventions and discusses how the findings of these decisions affect the prosecution of AI-related patent applications in practice.

Speaker profile

Patrick Heckeler is a German and European patent attorney and a partner of the renowned law firm BARDEHLE PAGENBERG with offices in Munich, Düsseldorf, Barcelona and Paris. With his studies of computer science, Patrick has reliable expertise in the patentability of inventions in the field of computer technology. His main areas of practice include patent prosecution, opposition and appeal proceedings as well as infringement and nullity complaints.

Patrick has excellent knowledge in the areas of computer architecture, operating systems, databases, embedded systems, multimedia technology, artificial intelligence, virtualization, and network technology. Having participated in the Safety-Critical Systems Research Group of the computer research department of the University of Tübingen, he also has extensive knowledge of the development and verification of safety-critical systems in the automotive industry and industrial automation.

He and his team run the online knowledge base europeansoftwarepatents.com, which meanwhile comprises hundreds of searchable decisions of the EPO’s Boards of Appeal dealing with the technical character of computer-implemented inventions.

Patrick is a member of the Chamber of Patent Attorneys, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, the German Society for Computer Sciences (Gesellschaft für Informatik e. V.) and the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR).

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