In a press release on December 20, 2019, the EPO announced that it was refusing to grant patent applications EP 18 275 163 and EP 18 275 174 because the named inventor was an artificial intelligence. After a non-public hearing on November 25, 2019, the EPO now announced that the patents were not recognized because the EPC only allows human inventors. So it seems to be a purely formal decision, e.g. novelty, inventive step and sufficient disclosure were not the subject of consideration. A precise justification for the decision is expected in January.

The EPO had already dealt with AI and patents in detail and held a conference in Munich.
Jürgen Brust

 

 

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