Imagine If: AI Became Your Partner in Litigation

In this episode, John Paul Keeler and Carl Osterlof speak with Alessandro Cossu, an Italian patent attorney and former EPO examiner who is optimistic about AI, as long as humans stay firmly in control. With 15 years at the EPO and now extensive experience in oppositions, he offers a rare view of how AI is beginning to shape litigation.

Alessandro believes AI can be a “game changer,” but only for litigators who do their homework, those who understand how the models work, and have the expertise to judge the output. He also connects AI to a broader concern: patent quality. In his opposition work, he often finds critical prior-art documents only after grant, documents “you would normally expect examiners to have found.” For him, AI’s real promise is improving search and examination upstream, reducing the number of weak patents that later fall in litigation.

Also in this episode

• Why the best litigators won’t be replaced by AI, they’ll be replaced by litigators who use AI well
• The danger of blindly trusting model outputs, and why understanding how AI works is now part of a litigator’s job

• How AI can surface real, decisive case law even experienced teams miss

• Why younger litigators risk losing foundational skills if they learn the profession through AI instead of before AI

• How smaller firms may compete with “big-law armies” when AI accelerates research

• The potential burden of disingenuous AI use: flooding courts with long submissions generated in seconds

• Why improving search and examination quality at patent offices could reduce the need for endless challenges later

• The ongoing tension between efficiency, quality, and responsibility in modern litigation

"It's important not to forget that it's the humans who are and should be in control of the whole process. If we manage to keep control, things can only go well."

‍About Alessandro Cossu‍

Alessandro Cossu is a Patent Attorney and Partner at BUGNION, specializing in patent litigation and  oppositions. Before moving into private practice, he spent 15 years as a patent examiner at the EPO, where he also trained new and experienced examiners. A microwave engineer by training, his day-to-day work spans prior-art searching, drafting, and high-stakes legal strategy, giving him a rare dual perspective on both sides of the patent system.

‍