🔍 New EPO Guidelines 2025 – What You Need to Know – Part 2 

📌 Part 2: AI at the EPO 

What changed: 

• The EPO has clarified that parties and their representatives remain fully responsible for the content of patent applications and submissions—even if these were prepared with the help of AI tools. 
  🔗 Ref: GL Foreword, section 5 

• The updated Guidelines reaffirm that AI and machine learning (ML) inventions are not excluded from patentability simply because they involve computational models or algorithms. Specifically, if a claim related AI or ML is directed to a method involving the use of technical means or to a device, its subject-matter has technical character and is not excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) or (3) EPC. In such cases, the computational models and algorithms contribute to the technical character of the invention if they contribute to a technical solution to a technical problem e.g. by being applied in a field of technology and/or by being adapted to a specific technical implementation. 
  🔗 Ref: GL GII, 3.3.1 

💡 Why it matters: 
Applicants using AI tools must ensure full EPC compliance, regardless of how content is generated. For patenting AI/ML inventions, technical application and implementation is key to overcoming exclusion risks. 

✅ What to watch out for or do differently: 
✔ Ensure AI-generated content is fully reviewed and aligned with EPC standards. 
✔ Don’t treat AI-related inventions as “automatically excluded” — they can be patentable if framed correctly.