Update on Artificial Intelligence: USPTO Urges Federal Circuit to Affirm Decision That AI Cannot Qualify as an “Inventor”

In three previous blog posts, we have discussed recent inventorship issues surrounding Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and its implications for life sciences innovations – focusing specifically on scientist Stephen Thaler’s attempt to obtain a patent for an invention created by his AI system called DABUS (“Device for Autonomus Bootstrapping of Unified Sentence). Most recently, we consideredThaler’s appeal of the September 3, 2021 decision out of the Eastern District of Virginia, which ruled that under the Patent Act, an AI machine cannot qualify as an “inventor.” Continuing this series, we now consider the USPTO’s recently filed opposition to Thaler’s appeal.

In its opposition brief, the USPTO argued that under the “plain language Congress chose to incorporate in the Patent Act,” only a human being can be considered an “inventor.” The USPTO first noted that the definitions of “inventor” and “joint inventor” under the Patent Act both unequivocally refer only to an “individual” or “individuals.” For example, “inventor” is defined under the Act as “the individual or, if a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented or discovered the subject matter of the invention.”

Read the full article at the link below.