While generative AI systems cannot be considered inventors under US patent laws, the US Patent and Trademark Office has updated its guidelines on how they can be used in the process of creating innovations. The agency’s director, John Squires, said in a notice obtained by Reuters that the USPTO deems genAI to be “analogous” to other tools that inventors might use in their process, including lab equipment, software and research databases.
“AI systems, including generative AI and other computational models, are instruments used by human inventors,” Squires wrote. “They may provide services and generate ideas, but they remain tools used by the human inventor who conceived the claimed invention.”
The notice [PDF], which is set to be published in the Federal Register on November 28, notes that there’s no separate process for evaluating whether an AI-assisted invention qualifies for a patent. “When multiple natural persons are involved in creating an invention with AI assistance, the traditional joint inventorship principles apply,” Squires added.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that “AI cannot be named as an inventor on a patent application (or issued patent) and that only natural persons can be inventors.” There’s no change to that stance under the latest USPTO guidelines. But the updated rules do offer more clarity as to whether things like new medications that are developed with the help of genAI systems can be patented.
