CIPIL Evening Seminar: 'The Importance of Emotional Perception: A Dissection of its Impact on Patent Law'

Speaker: Bruce Dearling, Partner, Hepworth Browne

Abstract: The decision of the UK Supreme Court in [2026] UKSC 3-Emotional Perception AI vs. Comptroller General of Patents was reported in The Times as “seismic” both because of the systemic changes it brought to multiple tenets of UK patent law and its economic significance. The presentation will unpack the issues decided by the UKSC with reference to the subsequent treatment of EPAI’s patent application on its remittal to the UKIPO for consideration of the “intermediate step” - especially having regard to the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G1/19 and the assessment of what constitutes a patentable “invention.”

Biography: Bruce is a shareholder at Hepworth Browne and has oversight responsibilities for inventions in the fields of AI, computer-implemented inventions (CIIs), and business technologies. Bruce has over 35 years of private practice and industrial directorship/VP-level experience in the UK and internationally. He is the instructing attorney responsible for the UK Supreme Court’s judgment [2026] UKSC 3-Emotional Perception. Earlier litigious work in Germany and other European countries, at both Court of Appeal and Supreme Court levels, related to know-how and database theft and saw novel concepts of extra-territorial, cross-border electronic data seizure successfully support civil and criminal prosecutions. He is a multi-nationally qualified patent and trade mark attorney and conseil. Recognized by WIPO in 2025 as an expert in the field of AI and patentability, he is also the first patent attorney to be shortlisted for the Halsbury Award for the Rule of Law.

A small drinks reception will take place in G24 after the event. 

This event is a hybrid event - to attend online you must register via Zoom.

Enquiries to: cipil@law.cam.ac.uk