Archive: July 2024

The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) in Germany recently issued a landmark ruling on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in patent law.

The decision, on 11 June 2024, in the DABUS case (AZ X ZB 5/22), reinforces the principle that only natural persons can be named as inventors under patent law. This ruling has significant implications for the future of AI-generated inventions and patent applications globally.

On 16 July 2024, the Bank for International Settlements published a speech by Klass Knot (Chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and President of the Netherlands Bank). The speech is dated 11 July 2024 and is entitled The AI adventure – how artificial intelligence may shape the economy and the financial system.

The English Court of Appeal has decided that an artificial neural network (ANN) was not patentable in Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks v Emotional Perception AI Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 825, reversing the finding of the lower court (the High Court), and in so doing agreeing with the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) original rejection of the patent application on the basis of unpatentable subject matter. The decision has ramifications for how patent claims for ANNs (and perhaps AI more generally) are made going forward, clarifying that training of an AI system that helps create the AI system itself, and non-technical outputs it produces, are not relevant in establishing patentability in relation to an AI computer program.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way businesses operate and interact with their customers. More and more service providers are using AI-driven solutions and platforms to offer innovative, more efficient, and streamlined services to their clients. However, AI-driven solutions and platforms depend on data to learn and improve, and this data may include your company’s data or your customer’s data. Have you ever wondered how your vendors are using your data to train their AI tools?

On 11 July 2024, the Law Commission for England and Wales published a scoping paper on decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs). This follows on from (and is informed by responses to) a call for evidence published in November 2022.

The EU AI Act was entered into the EU’s statute books on July 12, 2024. A transition period will begin from 1 August when it enters into force. The geographic scope is very broad, with obligations falling on organisations using or involved in the supply of AI in the EU and organisations operating outside the EU where the AI’s output is used in the EU.

The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, commonly referred to as the AI Act, is expected to come into force during the summer of 2024 (the AI Act).

On Thursday 20 June we hosted the Future of Finance Conference with the Global Blockchain Business Council at our offices in London.