The AI Year is a first-in-kind investigation of the changing, nuanced and often hidden dynamics of the AI ecosystem from every angle – based on research spanning 12 months, 13 markets, 5 sectors and 3 different players. Here you’ll find regular updates of data and insight, giving you visibility into not just your own challenges, but the system-level issues affecting your partners and competitors. 

Join us as we explore how the AI ecosystem is working for you, what’s on the horizon and ways to build a stronger value chain. 

With no unified international framework in sight, colleagues from our IP teams in London, Washington and Beijing map the current landscape.

The rules on patenting AI inventions vary significantly across the world's three most important technology markets. While the UK, US and China each have their own frameworks, one principle unites them: AI cannot be named as an inventor. Only a human being can hold that status.

Beyond that shared position, the picture diverges. The UK Supreme Court's Emotional Perception judgment, handed down in February 2026, has replaced the long-standing Aerotel test with an approach aligned to the EPO — a significant shift towards AI-friendliness. In the US, the USPTO framework requires AI claims to demonstrate a technological improvement or integration into a practical application. In China, the CNIPA demands a concrete technical solution tied to a technical effect, with a 2025 amendment adding an ethical screen that has no equivalent in the other two jurisdictions.

For businesses seeking patent protection across all three markets, the divergence has real strategic implications.

With robotics set to go mainstream, Gareth Stokes says businesses should be planning for the next wave of technology-driven transformation. 

Ask a senior exec what their top tech priority is right now, and the answer will almost certainly be adopting AI. Generative AI is transforming businesses' operating models, market propositions and workforces. Organisations are scrambling to embrace its powerful capabilities and understand the implications.

But before they’ve fully got to grips with gen AI, its convergence with another transformative technology – robotics – is set to change the game once again.