EPO CodeFest Highlights AI Models for Prior-Art and Patent Evaluation

EPO CodeFest 2026 includes AI-driven approaches to patent portfolio evaluation and prior-art identification, including systems designed to model aspects of patent examination.

AI is moving beyond keyword retrieval toward semantic discovery, relevance assessment, prior-art reasoning and portfolio evaluation. It should not be treated as a substitute for technical and patent judgement. The emerging model is AI-scale discovery combined with structured evidence and expert validation — which matters most for novelty searches, prior-art searches, invalidity analysis, patent landscapes, portfolio evaluation and competitive intelligence.