The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) made it clear in a newly released decision-making procedure guide on Monday local time thatAIThe system cannot be named as the inventor, but humans can be used in the process of creating patented inventions AI Tools, if AI tools are used, it is necessary to clearly(To regulatory authorities)inform.
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The guidelines state that invention patents should "focus on human contributions".Because the function of patents is to motivate and reward human ingenuityWhile AI systems and other “non-natural persons” cannot be listed as inventors in patent applications, the use of an AI system by a natural person “does not preclude” the natural person from qualifying as an inventor.To apply for a patent, there must be at least one qualified human inventor.
Therefore, if a natural person merely uses AI to create or supervise something, they cannot be a patent applicant.
Not only in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom, there have been similar cases.The local Supreme Court ruled that the patent inventor must be a natural person, not an AI. American scientist Stephen Thaler filed two patent applications in the UK in 2018, one for the shape of food packaging and the other for a flashlight. He said,These inventions were designed by his AI machine "DABUS".
The UK Supreme Court rejected his claim.Because according to UK patent law, the inventor of a patent must be a natural person.