In a significant move for the intersection of law and technology, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on Monday how it will evaluate the patentability of inventions developed with the aid of artificial intelligence. The office explained that, in order to gain patent protection, a human inventor must have made a “significant contribution” to the creation of the invention.
The USPTO has been proactively addressing the many legal and philosophical questions posed by the rise of artificial intelligence and its role in the creation of new inventions. Who, for instance, should be designated as the inventor in cases when an AI system generates an invention? How “significant” does the human contribution to the AI-driven invention process have to be? With this latest guidance, the USPTO has taken steps to clarify these issues, though much will likely depend on its application in practice.
For more details on the new USPTO guidance, you can read the announcement
here.