UK Court of Appeal overturns High Court ruling on patents for AI

In a judgment that deals a significant blow to the UK AI industry, the UK Court of Appeal has held that AI inventions comprising artificial neural networks (ANNs) fall within the exclusion from patentability for “computer programs” in the UK Patents Act. ANNs are therefore not patentable in the UK, unless they escape the exclusion by making a sufficient technical contribution outside of the ANN. In its judgment, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision from November 2023 that was  considered to be favourable to AI-inventors, and has brought the UK back in line with the more restrictive approach taken by the European Patent Office (EPO).