Federal Appellate Court Rules AI Systems Cannot Be ‘Inventors’ Because They Are Not Human – By Elura Nano (Law and Crime) / Aug 8, 2022
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday that artificial intelligence or “AI” systems cannot patent their inventions because they are not “natural people.”
The lawsuit involved a machine called DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience) created by Stephen Thaler, president of AI firm Imagination Engines, and the holder of over 70 patents. Thaler named DABUS as the inventor of two products (a food container with a surface that helps with insulation by using fractal geometry, and a flashing light for attracting attention in emergencies) on two patent applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Patent applications require the listing of an inventor’s first and last name. Thaler wrote on each of the applications that “the invention [was] generated by artificial intelligence,” and attached several supporting documents. Thaler also included a document showing that DABUS assigned all inventor rights to him as an individual.
The USPTO denied Thaler’s application on the ground that “a machine does not qualify as an inventor.” Thaler requested reconsideration and the USPTO denied the application a second time, then explaining that all patent inventors must be “natural persons.”
