The USPTO’s new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence states that while AI-assisted inventions are not “categorically unpatentable, the inventorship analysis should focus on human contributions, as patents function to incentivize and reward human ingenuity.”
Under the new guidance, machines can be credited and thanked in patent submissions, but not listed as an inventor in the final submission.
“The right balance must be struck between awarding patent protection to promote human ingenuity and investment for AI-assisted inventions while not unnecessarily locking up innovation for future developments,” writes Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.
