The EPO grants many patents for inventions involving machine
learning. However, a recent EPO Board of Appeal decision (T0161/18) highlights the importance of
drafting such applications carefully so that sufficient details of
the training dataset are included. A failure to do so can result in
refusal of the application on the grounds of both sufficiency and
lack of inventive step.
The invention and claims
The invention concerned a device in which aortic heart pressure
were calculated from blood pressure measurements using a neural
network.
Independent method claim 1 contained the following
characterising portion:
" ..... characterized in that the transformation of the
blood pressure curve measured at the periphery is converted into
the equivalent aortic pressure with the help of an artificial
neural network, the weighting values of which are determined by
learning."
