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ARTICLE · 11 JANUARY 2024

How Is An AI Invention Patentable?

Potter Clarkson LLP
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AI is one of the most exciting areas of innovation, particularly for start-ups and spin-outs. It is vital to protect.

United KingdomTechnology
Potter Clarkson LLP
Potter Clarkson LLP
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AI is one of the most exciting areas of innovation, particularly for start-ups and spin-outs. It is vital to protect. A patent can provide strong, tangible protection for your key technologies, allowing you to secure your valuation and attract investment. A few of the most common questions about patenting AI are answered below.

AREN'T SOFTWARE AND ALGORITHMS UNPATENTABLE?

There is a misconception that AI and other software-based inventions can't be patented in the UK and Europe. This may stem from an overly literal meaning of the UK's governing legislation for patents, and the corresponding harmonised provisions of the European Patent Convention. Section 2 of the UK Patents Act states that patentable inventions cannot consist of "a mathematical method" or "a program for a computer"... "as such". Since software generally consists of algorithms (mathematical methods) encoded in computer code, surely they would be excluded?

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