The EPO has introduced a pilot for preparing the minutes of oral proceedings held by videoconference (VC) using AI tools. Their goal is to further improve the quality of the minutes and to provide them more efficiently. The final format of the minutes is intended to remain the same.
The pilot will start for a selection of examining and opposition division oral proceedings scheduled for May 2025. The plan is for the pilot to run until the end of 2025, with a view to then gradually extending the process to all examining and opposition division oral proceedings as well as oral proceedings before the Receiving Section and Legal Division.
The EPO say that they will be taking a "human-centric" approach to the use of AI. Thus, the responsibility for the content of the minutes will remain entirely with the division involved. An audio recording of the oral proceedings will be made, and the division will then use the transcriptions of the recording to draw up the minutes with the assistance of AI tools. The recording and transcription will then be deleted. The EPO highlights that the audio or visual recording of oral proceedings (whether held by VC or at the premises of the EPO) by any participant other than an employee of the EPO remains prohibited.
The EPO will inform participants in advance if their case is selected for the pilot. We will wait to see whether the content of the minutes does improve with the assistance of AI, and whether the minutes are dispatched more quickly. It will also be interesting to see how the EPO further utilises AI to make efficiency gains.
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