Bonum Certa Men Certa

Say 'Hey Hi' to Software Patents

AI hype at EPO



Summary: Using the "AI" ("HEY HI") hype the 'community' of patent maximalists hopes that every little (and possibly very old) algorithm will suddenly sound amazing and innovative -- to the point where it becomes unthinkable to deny a patent monopoly on it

SEEING That 35 U.S.C. €§ 101 is likely secure in the United States (the courts more so than the USPTO), we've decided to leave that aside for the most part. Instead we focus on patent policy in Europe, which got a lot worse under Battistelli. Software patents aren't just promoted "as such"; they're being blatantly promoted as "4IR", "AI", "blockchain" and so on...

Got a buzzword? You name it! The European Patent Office (EPO) will scrape the deep well of cash repository (applicants fees) and pay European media to spread that buzzword in relation to patents. This was done already. We covered that.

"By today's definition of it, I've done "HEY HI" since I was 20, but we never called it that. We called those algorithms all sorts of other things."One of the most pervasive hype waves at the moment is "AI", which we call "HEY HI" as means of ridicule. We ridicule the term for the most part; it has become utterly ridiculous and it covers just about everything, in the same way "cloud" and "smart" do. By today's definition of it, I've done "HEY HI" since I was 20, but we never called it that. We called those algorithms all sorts of other things. Terms like "machine vision" or "game theory" are a lot more meaningful and descriptive than "HEY HI".

Days ago the UK-IPO and EPO were both pushing "HEY HI" agenda in public. It was about patents rather than "HEY HI". To quote (with buzzword substitution): "Pihlajamaa added that there are three main categories of HEY HI: inventions on HEY HI such as machine learning, inventions which use HEY HI, and inventions created by HEY HI."

Marvelous, gentlemen! Just marvelous!

Where can I buy some HEY HI?

Show me to your HEY HI leader!

These buzzwords for algorithms would be merely cause for amusement and ridicule if they weren't actively used to feed patent trolls with software patents. There's nothing comical about extortion/blackmail leveraging fake patents that are invalid as per the EPC.

Articles like the one cited above show a degree of complicity inside the media; there have been lots of these lately from World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR), as we noted days ago. We saw at least four in the past couple of days alone. All about HEY HI! In relation to patents:

The EPO’s discussions on AI with member states have focused on four aspects: patentability, disclosure, persons skilled in the art, and inventorship.

With respect to disclosure, Pihlajamaa said there is concern over ‘black box’ patenting, with inventions in the AI space not being sufficiently disclosed in patent applications.

Pihlajamaa added: “I have seen a lot of new technologies and often, when we talk about new technology, there is a new language created…a new [set of] terminology. It takes some time before there is a general agreement on how we express these different things.

“But, as I hear from examiner colleagues, we are already there. There’s already a lot of common understanding about how to draft patent applications [in the AI technology area].”

Sir Robin Jacob, the Sir Hugh Laddie chair of IP law at University College London, added that patent law will survive the fourth industrial revolution of AI, just as it has survived the first three.


So law firms and EPO officials just say "HEY HI" again and again. It "provided “very clear” guidance in this respect, particularly for the first of the two-step patentability test for AI applications," says the next article after that. It's article #18238 in WIPR, the above is #18237:

According to Mike Jennings, partner and patent attorney at AA Thornton in London, the European Patent Office (EPO) has provided “very clear” guidance in this respect, particularly for the first of the two-step patentability test for AI applications.


WIPR used to do some decent work back in the days. It had some decent writers I could speak to; but this publication is nowadays beholden to patent maximalists and this never-ending "HEY HI" craze that they've promoted like a PR campaign says a lot about WIPR.

We should note that not only WIPR is the culprit. There has been much of the same from Managing IP lately, not to mention IAM. And here comes Patently-O with a new post in which Grant Harrison promotes the "HEY HI" hype as part of the attempt to frame algorithms as "HEY HI" and then get bogus patents on them. To quote: "Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence ( A.I. ) is one of the most sought-after fields in Computer Science. A.I. often implemented an algorithm or machine that can be trained by learning through datasets, the most common approach to this is through deep learning and natural language processing neural networks somewhat resembling human neuronal interactions. A.I is also emerging as a practice-of-law topic, with many ongoing endeavors into automated lawyers and assisted decision making." See the comments there, e.g.: "Every time I hear the term, “artificial intelligence,” our country’s fearless / fearful / feckless pres comes to mind and I chuckle." (the response to which was: "I think that if machines actually had feelings, that you would have just hurt them.")

The EPO officials, not to mention the law firms that support them (patent maximalists support like-minded people), probably think they sound very sophisticated every time they invoke "HEY HI!" Even when projects based on such hype turn out to be epic failures.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Next Month 'New Techrights' Turns Two
Next month, on the fourth week, it'll be 2 years since the migration
Online Safety Act Tries to Accomplish the Impossible
All I can say is, "good luck with that!"
Microsoft Windows "Market Share" Measured Around 2.7% in Iraq, Plunges to 6.5% in Saudi Arabia
Microsoft isn't on the agenda in Iraq
 
Links 03/08/2025: Political Catch-up, Global Warming, and Hunger
Links for the day
Brittany Day Entered LLM Slop Into LinuxSecurity.com and Something Hilarious Happened: The Site is "Exploited"
The brainless, effortless copypasta of "slop artists" shows its limits
Links 03/08/2025: Microsoft Exchange 0-day Exploited and Avoidable Nuclear Escalation
Links for the day
Definitely Not a Ponzi Scheme
Bitcoin v Microsoft
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a Billionaires' Lobby
Billionaires that control tech companies
Microsoft Borrows 3 Billion Dollars Per Month, a Company Truly Worth Trillions Would Not Do This
if Windows (and Office) "market share" fell from about 90% to barely 30%, how come Microsoft is now "valued" at 20 times more?
It's Even Worse Than Microsoft Lunduke Puts It; GNOME is SLAPPing Journalists
In our experience, GNOME is so malicious - some elements of it in particular - that it would launch multiple simultaneous SLAPP campaigns not only against journalists but also their spouses
GNU/Linux Adoption Reaches All-Time Highs in Chile, statCounter Indicates
This month marks 4 years since Vista 11 came out (as a fake "leak") and some surveys still measure its adoption at less than 40%
Slop Will Not Change the World
Some of us grow up sooner and leave that nonsense behind (or altogether avoid/skip it)
Gemini Links 03/08/2025: Nostalgia and TOFU
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 02, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 02, 2025
Google Throwing Out the Search Engine With the Bathwater is a Complete and Utter 'Shi---ow' as the Company Drowns in Debt, Layoffs, and Worse
The mainstream media almost never mentions GAFAM debt
Operating Systems' Statistics in New Zealand: GNU/Linux Up, Windows Down to All-Time Lows
Remember all this when the media says that Microsoft became like 10 times more valuable in those 15 years (from 400 billion to 4,000 billion in alleged "worth")
GNU/Linux Share in Sweden Has Doubled Since PewDiePie, A Swede, Recommended It
months ago he moved to GNU/Linux, then told others to consider doing the same
GNU/Linux Hits Record High in Portugal
GNU/Linux picking up in Portugal
Gemini Protocol is Not Dying, It's Growing
When people say things like "Gemini Protocol is dying" the data does not support them
GNU/Linux is Thriving This Summer
It is meanwhile acknowledged, even by Microsoft pushers, that many GNU/Linux PCs will get sabotaged next month
The End of Microsoft's Reign in Spain: Windows Falls to All-Time Lows in Spanish Web Traffic
Windows sank to new lows in Spain
The Bots Never Sleep: In The Weekends, Slopfarms Dominate Google News, Majority of Entries in Google Are Fake Articles About 'Linux'
Google is fast becoming an ocean of plagiarism; the same goes for Google News, which was supposed to have extra quality control
Russia's Yandex Has Caught Up With Bing in Terms of "Market Share"
Microsoft has been firing loads of Bing workers for over 2 years already
Canada: GNU/Linux Up to Records Highs, Windows Down to Record Lows
Microsoft already announcing some plans to shut down Vista 11
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: Transducers in Typed Racket and American ISPs
Links for the day
Links 02/08/2025: Microsoft Already Kills Vista 11 SE, Smartphone Sales Down, Truth Gets "You're Fired!" in the US
Links for the day
Video: The Rise of GNU/Linux and Free Software as Seen by RMS in 2004
DTP's founder argued that when Windows goes below 85% "market share", it'll lose its grip in the monopoly sense
Russia: GNU/Linux Rises to Highest Adoption Level Since Invasion of Ukraine
Moving up in the north
Microsoft's Latest Financial Report: We "Gained" 300 Million Dollars in "Goodwill" and Liabilities Grew by 32 Billion Dollars
Microsoft's debt has reached an all-time high
The Register US = The Register MS
Formerly The Register UK
Weeks After Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan Windows Falls to All-Time Lows
Only less than a month ago it was quietly revealed, based on laid-off staff, that Microsoft shut down in Pakistan
Criminal Behaviour is the Standard Operating Procedure at Microsoft
In the future I'll be able to tell how, when dealing with SLAPPs from Microsofters, their Microsoft services failed me and sometimes even blocked my contacts
GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time Highs in Europe
many people will get fired for buying Microsoft
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux on the Client Desktop/Laptop, Based on Steam Survey
GNU/Linux rose to 2.89% in Steam
Links 02/08/2025: Blaugust 2025 and "Russia Declares Navalny Memoir ‘Extremist’"
Links for the day
Free Software is Not a Business Model
Go ahead, ask your friend, "how do you plan to monetise your children?"
When (Almost) One-Man Operations Are Disguised as Medium-Sized Companies
the CEO hides in the US (hiding from his ex-wives, 4 daughters from those wives, and Sirius staff that he defrauded)
LLM Slop Harms Real Literature, Real Web Sites, Real Journalism
LLM slop is a parasite and it'll run out of legitimate outputs
Upcoming OSI Scandal Series
The OSI is a rogue actor because it serves Microsoft in exchange for money
Slopwatch: The Issue Persists, But the Consensus in the Media Changes as Google Enrages It With LLM Plagiarism
We've meanwhile assessed the latest output from Linuxiac
Microsoft Actually in Trouble, Microsofters Unable to Obey Judges' Orders
For the second time in a week, Microsofters are unable to obey orders
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 01, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 01, 2025
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Links 02/08/2025: İstanbul Retail Inflation Reaches 42.48%, US FBI Opens Office in New Zealand
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: ZFS, LLM Hype, and Fake Modules
Links for the day
Links 01/08/2025: Health, Conflict, and Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by 15.4 Billion Dollars in the Past 9 Months Alone (Despite All the Layoffs)
As of minutes ago, at 6PM on a Friday, the numbers are made public
Meeting (Webchat) With Maria Arranz Gomez, Florian Grundies, Jürgen Janda and Konstantinos Kortsaris Confronts EPO Management About Breaking Promises and Crushing Workers
The lack of consistent messages suggests plans other than what's advertised and the lack of consultation (secrecy) likewise
Links 01/08/2025: "The Great British Firewall" and U.S. Army Sponsors Palantir
Links for the day
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025