UK Supreme Court Agrees to Hear AI Music Recommendations

In July we reported on the U.K. Court of Appeal decision rejecting a patent application by Emotional Perception AI Limited (EPL), essentially because the technical part (the AI) was held to be a program for a computer and there was no external technical effect (see https://briefings.brownrudnick.com/post/102jev5/ai-implemented-invention-for-making-music-recommenations-not-patentable).  The patent in question used AI to discern, for example, a person’s taste in music and to recommend similar material. There since have been further developments in the case.

The Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal its decision to the U.K. Supreme Court, the highest court in the country. EPL therefore applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal, which permission has just been given.  The fact that the Supreme Court has granted permission does not mean that it has reached a preliminary view that the Court of Appeal decision should be reversed. It does mean, however, that the Supreme Court has concluded that the case raises some important questions on AI and patentability on which the Supreme Court should rule.

The Court of Appeal’s judgment included that training an artificial neural network will be regarded a program for a computer and therefore excluded from patentability.  We await with interest whether this key component of the judgment will be reversed by the Supreme Court. In any event, we can expect guidance on this key issue.

The timetable for when the hearing before the Supreme Court will take place, and for judgment to be given, has not been published.  Our best estimate is that judgment will be handed down in Q4 of 2025.  Watch this space!