IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INVENTIVE STEP UNDER THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION RELATED TO THE INCREASING APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CERTIFICATION AS A SUI GENERIS PROTECTION MECHANISM FOR CREATIONS INVOLVING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to observe whether the European Patent Convention avails protection for creations involving
Machine Learning regarding its current and future development. The article analyzes in more detail the notion of compliance with the
requirement of an inventive step under the European Patent Convention when using Machine Learning becomes routine. The article
concludes that, due to the specifics of Machine Learning, comprehensive protection for creations involving it would require conceptual
amendments to the European Patent Convention. The author argues that instead of fundamentally amending the European Patent
Convention, certification as a sui generis protection mechanism for creations involving Machine Learning could be a potential solution.
The article further builds on and develops current academic proposals, providing an overview of the wider framework. The paper relies on
the descriptive, analytical, historical and comparative legal methods to substantiate the main argument.