Software and AI Patent Prosecution in Australia

Australian software and AI patent law has entered a period of doctrinal stabilisation following the Full Federal Court's decision in Aristocrat Technologies Australia v Commissioner of Patents [2025] FCAFC 131, with the High Court refusing special leave in February 2026. Together with IP Australia's updated Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure (March 2026) and the established inventorship principles confirmed in Commissioner of Patents v Thaler [2022] FCAFC 62, practitioners now operate within a clearer but more technically demanding framework for assessing eligibility and drafting enforceable claims.

This session provides a practical framework for prosecuting software and AI-related patent applications in Australia. It focuses on how to characterise the substance of computer-implemented inventions under the current manner-of-manufacture test, how to draft claims that withstand sufficiency and support scrutiny, and how to manage inventorship and entitlement where AI tools are involved.

The webinar also explores prosecution strategy across examination, opposition, and international filing pathways in a landscape where eligibility standards continue to diverge across jurisdictions.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Australian patent eligibility for software and computer-implemented inventions

• Implications of Aristocrat Technologies Australia v Commissioner of Patents (2025)

• IP Australia’s updated Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure (March 2026)

• Patent specification sufficiency and support requirements under section 40 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth)

• Inventorship and entitlement issues involving AI-assisted inventions

• Patent examination, opposition, and international prosecution strategies

• Differences in software and AI patent eligibility across jurisdictions