Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO: Goodbye to the Rule of Law and Hey Hi, AI!

Oh, hi! Welcome to the EPO, where examiners are now forced to violate the EPC.

On maths, stats, hey hi, technical contribution



Summary: The EPO's embrace of buzzwords -- no longer a unique EPO strategy (it has already spread elsewhere) -- puts examiners in a very bad position and they're grappling with nerve- and mind-racking dilemmas (risk of unemployment for truly upholding the EPC)

THE "HEY HI" (AI) buzzword is pure magic. Things are "innovative" just by virtue of being labeled "HEY HI" (AI) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) nowadays exploits this buzzword -- boosted by at least two years of unprecedented media hype -- to discard/disregard 35 U.S.C. €§ 101. The hype is also exploited by abusive WIPO and occasionally in Munich's abusive think tanks, which serve litigation firms.



"Using new guidelines the EPO more or less forces examiners to allow such illegal patents (or risk losing the job)."As noted here before, WIPR's puff piece "IP5 hold joint AI response meeting" (based on EPO fluff alone) contributed to the idea that media was 'captured' by maximalists and European Patent Office (EPO) management, pushing for software patents in Europe at every turn not because software professionals want these but because litigation firms want these. António Campinos meddling in a Board decision (upcoming case) regarding the matter is another insult on top of an injury (caused mostly by Battistelli).

The other day, promoted through a network of law firms was this piece by Yasar Celebi (CMS Netherlands) which leverages "HEY HI" (AI) as means by which to bypass the EPC and grant patents on algorithms. To quote:

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC), you can’t patent software 'as such'. Case law shows that software is patentable when it can be presented as a new, non-obvious technical solution to a technical problem.

The European Patent Office (EPO) has amended its guidelines to provide more clarity on the circumstances under which inventions in the field of AI are patentable. According to these guidelines, AI-based inventions are patentable as long as the method used serves a technical purpose. For example, the use of a neural network in a heart-monitoring apparatus for the purpose of identifying irregular heartbeats makes a technical contribution and is thus, in principle, patentable.


It boils down to maths and statistics, but when the EU is seen promoting this whole AI hype (not even a new thing, it's decades old) we're supposed to ignore that simple fact and resort to vague nonsense like "technical contribution" (or "effect") and tolerate grants of illegal (invalid) patents. Using new guidelines the EPO more or less forces examiners to allow such illegal patents (or risk losing the job). In other words, they're compelled to break the law to comply with rules or put in a position where they must choose between employment and obeying the law.

Recent Techrights' Posts

New Video Report About Microsoft Cancelling Multi-Billion Dollar Projects
direct link to the video
Microsoft is Already Laying Off Lots of Contractors
cost-cutting at Microsoft takes a new "edge"
Coming Soon: Microsoft Fake Results, Mass Layoffs, and Silence About All the People Microsoft Pressured to "Quit" (So That They Don't Get Counted as Layoffs)
there will be more mass layoffs
Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
 
Google Spreading Misinformation and Lies
Google is in the propaganda business
statCounter: GNU/Linux Adoption Surging in Switzerland, Windows at All-time Low
What happened?
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Free Speech and Perfectionism in Design
Links for the day
What Fake News Looks Like (IBM)
IBM told a lie. The media then just blindly repeated this lie.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 28, 2025
China is Already Culling GAFAM (Not Just Microsoft Windows)
OS monoculture or "OS hegemony" may be coming to an end
The "Telephone Operating System in the Vatican" is 95 Years Old, Vatican Moved to GNU/Linux
Maybe Microsoft is down to zero already
If Tesla Shares (and Alleged Value) Fell 55% (From $489 to $222) in a Few Months Maybe It's Not Worth Anything At All (It's Just Gambling)
Tesla swasticars have turned from a "status symbol" into a "public embarrassment" and cause for casual humiliation
Chromebooks' Adoption in Sweden No Longer Depends on Schools
School breaks are when classrooms are shut
No, IBM is Not Investing $150 Billion in the US and It Doesn't Even Have That Kind of Money
Here we go again... media as a vehicle of lobbying and misinformation
Leak: The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Does Not Consult Staff on Crucial Matters and Bypasses the Administrative Council (AC) to Do Illegal Things
violations against the EPO's very staff
New Leaks Coming Soon, We Maintain 100% Record of Successful Resistance to Censorship
We won't be told what we can and cannot say (especially when it's true)
Central African Republic (CAR): Vista 11 is Only ~0.2% Market Share
99.8% to go!
BSD and GNU/Linux Replaced Microsoft in Secure Servers, All Microsoft Has Left is LLM Slop for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
the FUD machine never rests
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025