The Inventor's New Tool: Artificial Intelligence : how does it fit in the European Patent System?

Abstract

Artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in the development of new products and processes. This development raises the question how inventions made by means of artificial intelligence fit in the European patent system. This article argues that an artificial intelligence application should be seen as a tool, and that inventions made with that tool are patentable as long as the artificial intelligence application is not a tool the average skilled person would use routinely.