The USPTO’s recent landmark decision (16/524,350) concluding artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be a named patent inventor perhaps sparked fears of super-robots inventing critical technologies that, alas, receive no patent protection. If an AI identifies new, more efficient battery chemicals, will that new battery be unpatentable? If an AI builds chemical compounds that become the next wonder drug, will that drug-maker receive no patent? Are innovators who increasingly rely on AI to analyze data and generate solutions atop a slippery slope?
This article explains why the USPTO’s decision doesn’t preclude patentability of AI-assisted inventions and identifies questions IOT innovators must consider to best position themselves as AI evolves.
USPTO: Patent Inventors Must Be Human
In April of 2020, the USPTO issued a decision concluding that an AI named DABUS could not receive a patent for a fractal light signal with pulses designed to match human brain waves, making beacons using the signals easier to see. Dr. Stephen Thaler, DABUS’ inventor, is the patent’s assignee, but DABUS was the sole named inventor.
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