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ARTICLE · 06 MARCH 2021

2021: An AI inventor odyssey in Australia

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The APO considered whether an Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be an inventor for an Australian patent application.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Ryan Boe
Ryan Boe
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds
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As part of a global series of cases testing the boundaries of what it means to be an inventor, the Australian Patent Office ("APO") has now had its say regarding whether an Artificial Intelligence ("AI") can be an inventor for an Australian patent application. The Delegate of the Commissioner of Patents has concluded that an AI cannot be named as an inventor of an Australian patent application because an inventor must have a beneficial interest in property and therefore must be a natural person.

Background

Stephen L. Thaler ("Thaler") filed Australian Patent Application 2019363177 ("the Application") on 17 September 2019, titled 'Food Container and Devices and Methods for Attracting Enhanced Attention'. The Application relates to a container with a wall including a fractal profile with corresponding convex and concave fractal elements on interior and exterior surfaces. The fractal patterns enable multiple containers to be coupled together via inter-engagement

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