Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Makes Guidelines for Examination That Formally Allow Software Patents in Defiance of European Law

AI hype at EPO



Summary: The whole "HEY HI!" (AI) nonsense is making its way into guidelines for EPO examiners; this means that even when they're facing patent applications that are ineligible/unsuitable due to them being on algorithms the management will be able to impose/force a grant (in violation of the EPC), leaving courts to clean up this mess (if accused parties can afford lengthy court battles)

"HEY HI HEY HI HEY HI HEY HI!" (AI)

Repeat that with us. HEY HI. HEY HI. HEY HI.

It's the new craze. It once meant things like machines that learn stuff from data to form classifiers; nowadays it often literally means "computer" or "algorithm" or "automation".

"Does a device do something clever? HEY HI!"Does some computer replace a human job? Does it automate a task? HEY HI!

Does a device do something clever? HEY HI!

This lunacy is being formalised not only by the European Patent Office (EPO) but also by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where the number of granted patents grew again (more on that in our Daily Links; it's just indicative of decline in patent quality).

"I myself developed several machine learning programs a long time ago, as far back as my teenage years. It's neither new nor emergent."The HEY HI hype started under Battistelli. So it obviously continues under António Campinos, his 'ginger replica'. They lobby for software patents in Europe under the guise of HEY HI! Who in their right minds would oppose something with "intellectual" or "intelligence" in the name??? Who???

I myself developed several machine learning programs a long time ago, as far back as my teenage years. It's neither new nor emergent. And it's all just algorithms; it's maths, notably statistics (a branch of it). As Benjamin Henrion has just noted, "IBM Belinda Gascoyne lobbying for software patents once again at WIPO" ("WIPO Conversation on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence"). WIPO and by extension the UN has swallowed all this "HEY HI" Kool-Aid, which was 'waterboarded' down its throat by the likes of IBM, possibly the world's biggest proponent of software patents. IBM does this everywhere, from NZ in the east to India in the nearer east, Europe at the centre (of the map) and of course the US in the west (we covered examples from each; IBM lobbies for that everywhere).

"Suffice to say, the EPO still hopes to toss out the courts themselves."Suffice to say, the EPO is still allowing bogus patents to be granted provided they're disguised as "HEY HI" ("AI"). Just figure out some way to spin your implementation as "AI" and an examiners will be pressured to grant that because, as the EPO has just put it: "The Guidelines for examination 2019 are now available online for preview."

There's something similar in the US right now, but we try to focus on Europe. Laurence Lai published this article about those guidelines for examination only hours ago; the first item in the list is about making software patents acceptable in the EPO even though these are clearly illegal and European courts would reject these. To quote:

The European Patent Office has today published an advance preview of its annual update to the Guidelines for Examination which will come into force on 1 November 2019.

[...]

1. Technical character of artificial intelligence inventions

Last year, a new section discussing the patentability of AI and machine learning claims was added. This has already been updated in the new Guidelines to soften the stance on features such as “support vector machine”, “reasoning engine” or “neural network”.

Previously considered to usually be devoid of technical character, EPO examiners are now expected to take into account whether the context of these features contribute to the technical character of a claim as a whole. A positive finding on technical character is an important factor in establishing an inventive step.

Additionally, the computational efficiency of an algorithm is now considered to contribute to the technical character of an invention if a technical effect of the computer program has already been established.

The EPO is therefore taking a step forwards towards recognising contributions that machine learning and efficient algorithms can make as patentable inventions.


This means more awful patents, or European Patents that courts would toss out (if one could afford the court battle).

Suffice to say, the EPO still hopes to toss out the courts themselves. It wants some phony "unified" courts that it better controls and Steptoe & Johnson LLP (Michael Thompson and Paul Hughes to be specific) has just posted this clueless analysis which says UPC has "been developed..."

"If the UPC or something like it ever materialised, it's pretty clear who would benefit the most: patent trolls with software patents."It was drafted, but it's dead. It's not happening due to EPO corruption for the most part. The EPO's disregard for the EPC is very much visible to all, including the FCC in Germany. To quote the full sentence: "Within the EU, the Community Trademark, the Registered Community Design and Unregistered Community Design Rights, and Unitary Patent have been developed, giving the owners of such IPRs greater jurisdictional reach across all EU Member States."

Not the case with patents though. Not yet. Probably never. If the UPC or something like it ever materialised, it's pretty clear who would benefit the most: patent trolls with software patents. That's the American classic (trolls typically rely on these patent families). Team UPC is consciously lying on behalf of SMEs it's looking to hurt and Henrion has said/quoted (this week): "When reading the preceding blog, it also becomes abundantly clear, that the UPC is not for SMEs, and in view of the attitude of certain EU members towards the UPC for some European Countries like Poland."

"Businesses wake up, politicians stand to defend them, and judges sooner or later realise that their integrity too is under assault."People are pushing back. Businesses wake up, politicians stand to defend them, and judges sooner or later realise that their integrity too is under assault.

Not that the EPO's managers care. The EPO hates judges and loves trolls. The EPO has retweeted a front group of patent trolls once again, even twice in a short period of time [1, 2]. Today's EPO works for trolls, not for scientists. It lies, it cheats, it blackmails people. Just like the trolls do.

Incidentally, hours ago IP2Innovate wrote about this problem. There's a new press release available as HTML (or as PDF) and they alerted us about it over IRC, so we've decided to reproduce it below. Here's their vision of Europe:

Industry calls on upcoming EU Commissioner for Internal Market to bring greater balance to Europe’s patent legal system and adapt it to the digital age



Ahead of the parliamentary hearing of the EU Commissioner-designate for the Internal Market Sylvie Goulard, the cross-sector industry coalition IP2Innovate sent a letter to the Commissioner-designate urging her to take steps as part of her mission to bring balance to Europe’s patent system to ensure it supports the region’s digital growth ambitions and enhances competitiveness in critical technology sectors.

Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen in her mission letter to Goulard asked her to “take a close look at [EU’s] intellectual property regime to ensure that it is coherent, is fit for the digital age and supports our competitiveness”. According to IP2Innovate, an effective and balanced patent legal system is an important prerequisite for Europe to be able to compete globally in the next frontier of technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, the experience of IP2Innovate member companies, and many other European innovators, is that Europe’s patent system presently lacks this necessary balance, making it harder for companies to scale up and bring new products to market rapidly.

“In the digital age, products are increasingly complex, often covered by thousands of patents, which make them constantly subject to patent disputes”, IP2Innovate said in its letter to the Commissioner-designate. “Because the practice of many European courts is to issue automatic injunctions upon a finding of infringement, without considering a remedy that could be more proportionate, an accidental infringement of just one patent among many others can result in removing from the market a product necessary to access digital goods or services”.

According to IP2Innovate, this situation makes Europe more and more attractive to Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), also known as “patent trolls”, who buy up patents only to assert them against innovative companies, including SMEs, and extract high settlement. These entities increasingly target the ICT-industry, central to growth and innovation across many industries.

Under the leadership of Commissioner-designate Goulard, IP2Innovate calls on the European Commission to take concrete steps to bring greater balance to Europe’s patent legal system to support the region’s digital growth ambitions and secure its competitiveness in critical technology sectors.


This pretty much echoes what they say every year and what we've been saying for many years. IP2Innovate is fronting for (mostly) technology companies; those who throw insults at IP2Innovate are almost always law firms and their front groups. That speak volumes, does it not?

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
 
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025