Today the UK Supreme Court issued its judgment on Emotional Perception AI Limited (Appellant) v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (Respondent).
Aerotel—the approach used by the UKIPO and the Courts to assess excluded subject matter—is no longer to be used, and the UK is now to be more aligned with the EPO’s “any hardware” approach set out in G 1/19. The UK Supreme Court said that the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal “needs to be respected unless convinced that they are wrong beyond the ambit of a reasonable difference of opinion”. However, the Supreme Court did state that this would not overturn the UK’s existing approach to novelty and inventive step.
It will become clearer when the written judgment is released, but it certainly appears that the UK will now have an amalgam of EPO patentability and UK inventive step for computer implemented inventions.
More to follow when the written judgment is released.
Dr Harry Strange, Nick Wallin, Russell Barton, Atheer Galdagon, Theo Worsley
This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
© Withers & Rogers LLP February 2026
