DABUS Case: AI Inventorship In Indian Legal Regime

Introduction

Innovations created by Artificial Intelligence, or "AI, "happen every second of the day. There exists a debate on the patentability of inventions made by AI, one of which is the Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience or "DABUS" patent, which raises the critical question of whether an AI can be recognized as an inventor to apply for a patent. The primary issue is whether an AI machine can come under the term inventor in the existing patent laws. While the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union have negated the patent application, the issue remains unanswered in India. This blog, therefore, addresses the issues that will arise if such AI machines are given access to apply for patents for their innovations and how such inventors do not come under the Indian Patent Law regime.