In Emotional Perception AI Limited v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2026] UKSC 3 (Emotional Perception), the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) held, for the purposes of section 1(2)(c) of the UK Patents Act 1977, that computer-implemented inventions involving artificial neural networks avoid exclusion from patentability merely by referring to the use of a computer or other technical means, but must then satisfy an intermediate filtering step and the requirements of novelty and inventive step. In doing so, the UKSC departed from a long-standing test used to assess whether a computer-related invention is excluded from patentability in favour of a new three-step approach broadly based on the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office’s decision in Bentley Systems (UK) Ltd/Pedestrian Simulation (Decision G1/19) [2021] EPOR 30.
On 17 April 2026, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) noted, among other things, that the UKSC’s decision in Emotional Perception raised noteworthy issues about patentable subject matter and inventive step that may be relevant to the development of patent practice in Singapore. IPOS has, in a feedback exercise, invited intellectual property practitioners to share their insights and perspectives on the relevance of the decision to, and its potential impact on, Singapore’s patent system, with a view to informing discussion and policy considerations.
This update discusses these developments.
If you would like information and/or assistance on the above or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:
LAM Chung Nian
Head – Intellectual Property, Technology & Data
d +65 6416 8271
e chungnian.lam@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Chung Nian’s CV.
Kylie PEH
Partner – Intellectual Property, Technology & Data Group
d +65 6416 8259
e kylie.peh@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Kylie’s CV.