AI: Webtools, E-commerce and Finance

Artificial Intelligence is now commonplace in our daily lives and this is especially true when it comes to e-commerce, education, webtools, and finance.

E-commerce – Artificial intelligence powers personalised recommendations, chatbots, and inventory management, driving improvements in customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Webtools – Webtools use AI to enhance search capabilities, personalise content and enhance user experience.

Finance – AI can be utilised in relation to algorithmic trading, risk assessment, fraud detection, customer service automation, and streamlining operations.

Here at Mewburn Ellis we have handled AI inventions for a wide range of companies and technologies including: digital personal assistant services, AI-powered messaging solutions, education courseware, a leading telematics service provider, a provider of automatic content recognition services, a global provider of cybersecurity solutions, a leading provider of Internet of Things (IoT) products and public access infrastructure, AI-based ad testing with respect to audience attention, and AI applied to the energy and insurance sectors.    

Our team includes a large number of skilled advocates who are experienced when it comes to arguing these cases in person at the UKIPO and EPO.   

Our team

Emma Graham - Circle

Emma Graham, Partner

Emma focuses on AI as applied to e commerce, educational tools, digital health, internet of things, as well as optics/photonics. She recognises the fast moving nature of software inventions and the need to obtain protection quickly. She takes a proactive approach to prosecution including arranging examiner interviews and regularly advises upon acceleration mechanisms, in the UK and Europe as well as across global portfolios. Emma has a particular focus on drafting applications designed to achieve the best protection possible in both Europe and the US; a skill that often requires just the right amount of compromise. In 2014 she spent time on secondment working in Silicon Valley, giving her a unique perspective of the challenges that US applicants face when patenting in Europe.

Richard Johnson circle-1

Richard Johnson, Partner

Richard has in-depth experience of navigating the IP challenges of incorporate AI innovations across a variety of sectors, including healthcare, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. He has over 20 years’ experience in building valuable IP portfolios for his clients. One of his notable achievements includes his work with Realeyes, a leader in AI-driven emotion analytics. Richard plays a key role in securing patents for Realeyes' innovative data handling technology that underpins their use of AI to analyse facial expressions and measure human behaviour. Richard has a particular interest in the ethics and policy around the intersection of AI and intellectual property, and has published a number of articles around that topic.

James Leach circle-1

James Leach, Partner

James takes a special interest in AI as applied to web tools, digital security and medical devices. He has over 15 years’ experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in software/AI. James has particular practical and legal expertise in securing patent protection for software/AI inventions lying close to the boundary of patent eligibility, including use of machine learning for cyber security. More broadly, James has deep expertise in advising clients on invention capture and IP strategy. He is also astute at seamlessly managing teams of attorneys within Mewburn to ensure his clients get access to patent attorneys with the technical skills they need, no matter what the size of their patent portfolio. James enjoys working with clients who have the same passion he has for technology which improves peoples’ lives.

Alex Burns circle-1

Alex Burns, IP Director

Alex focuses on inventions relating to artificial intelligence and machine-learning, as well as other technologies having a strong mathematical focus, such as cybersecurity and cryptography. His experience includes both drafting patent applications for AI technologies, and prosecuting AI patent applications in the UK, Europe, and internationally. Alex has handled patent applications for bioinformatics, medical image processing, cheminformatics, and pharmacokinetics as well as inventions relating to core AI, such as methods of training machine-learning algorithms, functioning of individual neurons in an artificial neural network, and explainable AI. Alex also has experience drafting patent applications relating to the application of generative AI in healthcare. Alex has completed a Machine Learning Specialization course with Stanford University. 

Lucy Coe Circle 2-1

Lucy Coe, Senior Associate

Lucy has experience in the application of AI and ML to e-commerce, communication technology, medical devices, Internet of Things (IoT) and security systems. She is experienced in drafting and prosecuting applications involving the application of AI technology at the UK and the EPO, with particular expertise in navigating the strict and complex rules associated with patenting technology in this field. Lucy takes a proactive approach in coordinating examiner interviews, a strategy which has led to a greatly improved grant rate and accelerated prosecution timelines for her clients. Lucy also has a particular focus on post-grant work, handling EPO oppositions and appeals and litigation at the UK courts. She has a Diploma in Patent Litigation in Europe from the University of Strasbourg, and is experienced in advising clients on European litigation strategy, in particular in relation to the UPC, providing detailed opinions on infringement and validity and performing freedom to operate searches.

Alexander Savin circle (1)-1

Alex Savin, Associate

Alex has a particular expertise in the application of AI to simulation and imaging, especially in the nuclear, medical and space-tech sectors.

Alex has experience working across all stages of the patent life cycle on inventions leveraging the power of AI, from invention capture and drafting, through prosecution, to opposition proceedings at the EPO. He is experienced in helping start-up companies and SMEs build and manage their patent portfolios.

Alex also drafts and prosecutes applications in the bioinformatics space, and in the field of AI-based generative design – e.g. for the purpose of electronics design.

Emily Lloyd circle-1

Emily Lloyd, Technical Assistant

Emily has particular expertise in the application of AI to knowledge graphs, IoT, CAD/CAM and e-commerce. Before joining Mewburn Ellis, Emily worked as a software engineer at a CAD/CAM software company, an e-commerce company and a research institute and has experience working with a variety of programming languages. In her research into semantic web technologies, she worked on the development of ontologies and autonomous agents as part of a dynamic knowledge graph that makes data machine-readable with applications across industries in digital twins and simulations for fast scenario analysis and enhanced decision-making. In her work at an e-commerce company, she developed applications that integrate internally developed machine learning models, including computer vision and computer audition models, to optimise pricing and operations. 

Case study: AI led customer support 

We handle a large patent portfolio for a technology company that provides AI-powered messaging solutions for businesses to enhance customer support and engagement.

We take a proactive approach to prosecution, including calling EPO examiners to ask for examiner interviews. This real-time interaction with the EPO fosters a deeper understanding on both sides of the conversation leading to a more dynamic examination of the patent application and has ultimately led to an impressive grant rate for our client in a technical area that often lies close to the boundary of what is patent eligible.

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Case study: Machine learning

We are proud to have secured patents for a leading company in the field of AI-driven measurement of human behaviour. The patents relate to innovative uses of machine learning to measure attentiveness through facial recognition and biometric analysis, allowing for precise detection and analysis of user engagement, enhancing user experience across various sectors such as marketing, entertainment, and customer service.

In several cases, we successfully persuaded the European Patent Office of the presence of a patentable technical effect within a business context where European patents are traditionally difficult to obtain. These patents provide a foundation for the client’s future growth, not least by demonstrating the company’s commitment to continue investing in research and development and the pursuit of future innovation. 

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Mewburn Ellis Forward is a biannual publication that celebrates the best of innovation and exploration. Through its pages we hope to inform and entertain, but also to encourage discussion about the most compelling developments taking place in the scientific and entrepreneurial world. Along the way, we’ll engage with the IP challenges that international organisations face every day.

 

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