ARTICLE · 03 AUGUST 2022

Can AI Invent? Courts Around The World Weigh In

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We have previously discussed the fascinating and somewhat surreal issue of whether artificial intelligence ("AI") can be listed as an inventor on a patent application.

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Joanne Van Harmelen

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We have previously discussed the fascinating and somewhat surreal issue of whether artificial intelligence ("AI") can be listed as an inventor on a patent application. This is becoming an increasingly relevant issue given the exponential use of AI.

(Andrea de Santis)

A seminal player in this landscape is Dr Stephen Thaler, the CEO, and president of Imagination Engines. The inventor of the patent was listed as DABUS (a device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience), a type of AI system. Patent Offices in the USA and Europe have already rejected patent applications filed by Dr Thaler where DABUS was listed as the inventor, confirming that the patent laws in these territories do not recognise AI systems as inventors.

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