« A Good Idea Is Not Enough »: EPO Revokes Ebara’s AI Waste Estimation Patent for Insufficient Disclosure
Case: T 0048/24 | Board: Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.06 | Date: 13 November 2025 Key Takeaways 1. Claiming broad ML outputs without technical detail is fatal. A patent that merely states a result to be achieved — without disclosing how a machine learning model should be implemented, trained, or evaluated — will not survive […]
« Show Me Your Face — But It’s Still Obvious »: EPO Dismisses Gre-Lab’s Secure Payment Patent
Case: T 1613/22 | Board: Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01 | Date: 12 December 2025 Key Takeaways 1. Combining known authentication methods is not inventive. Adding facial image display to an existing biometric payment system is an obvious step when prior art already discloses both elements in analogous contexts — even if no single document […]
Automating the Mundane Isn’t Inventive »: EPO Shoots Down Auctane’s Shipping Software Patent
Case: T 1851/22 | Board: Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01 | Date: 12 December 2025 Key Takeaways 1. Algorithmic ≠ Technical. The Board made clear that steps conceived by a computer programmer — rather than a business person — do not automatically gain technical character. Code is still just code unless it solves a technical […]