AI Can’t File For Patents Yet As ‘A Machine Cannot’ Have Rights, Courts Rule
Image via ID 158693898 © Bang Oland | Dreamstime.com
Back in 2018, inventor Dr Stephen Thaler filed for two patent applications in the UK, but didn’t list himself as the creator. Instead, he said his artificial intelligence (AI) DABUS should be awarded with the patent.
Dr Thaler’s appeal for his AI to be credited hasn’t been successful, with the UK Court ruling that AI can’t be legally listed as an inventor on a patent.
According to a report by the BBC, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing of the Appeal Court presided over the case, determining that “only a person can have rights. A machine cannot.”
The inventor has since taken his legal claims to other countries. In Australia, he was successful at convincing a judge that creations by AIs should qualify for a patent. He was less fortunate in the US, with the District Judge ruling that “only natural persons may be named as an inventor in a patent application.”
Judge Leonie M Brinkema did say the rules could change in the future, should AI be advanced enough to successfully meet the definitions of an inventor. Now, however, “that time has not yet arrived, and, if it does, it will be up to Congress to decide how, if at all, it wants to expand the scope of patent law.”
If AIs are eventually allowed to file for patents, would it diminish the prestige of human inventors throughout history? While this still remains very much a gray area, it won’t be surprising to see more AI creators coming up with such challenges in the near future.
[via Engadget, cover image via ID 158693898 © Bang Oland | Dreamstime.com]
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