The USPTO's April 11, 2024, guidance clarifies how existing
USPTO rules apply to the use of AI by practitioners when
interacting with the USPTO.
The Existing Rules. The United States Patent
and Trademark Office ("USPTO") describes its existing
rules and regulations that are relevant to practitioners' use
of artificial intelligence ("AI"), including the duty of
candor and good faith, the signature requirement, the obligation to
maintain client confidentiality, foreign filing regulations, and
the USPTO's electronic filing system policies.
Human Verification Required. The USPTO
emphasizes that practitioners must double check any work product
generated by AI to ensure accuracy and relevancy under existing
USPTO rules. Human verification is needed because of the potential
for an AI tool to cite incorrect case law or facts in filings with
the USPTO or provide a large amount of irrelevant prior art in an
information disclosure statement, or IDS. Therefore,
