Although the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) maintains that only humans, not artificially intelligent systems, can be recognized as inventors in patent applications, the use of AI in the invention process is allowed and disclosed. There is a need. The Verge reports: The agency released the latest guidance (PDF) after a series of “listening” tours to gather public opinion. Although AI systems or other “non-natural persons” cannot be listed as inventors in patent applications, it states that “the use of an AI system by a natural person does not preclude the natural person's status as an inventor.” Just as the USPTO requires all applicants to list all material information needed for decision-making, patent seekers will need to disclose whether they used AI in the course of their invention.
However, for a patent to be registered, the person using the AI must have made a significant contribution to the idea of the invention. A person who simply asks an AI system to create something and then supervises it is not an inventor, the report says. The agency says that someone who simply poses a problem to an AI system or “recognizes and evaluates” its results as a good invention cannot claim credit for the patent.
“However, important contributions can be made by ways of crafting prompts that take specific problems into account to elicit specific solutions from AI systems,” the USPTO said. The agency also notes that “maintaining 'intellectual control' over an AI system does not in itself make one an inventor.” Therefore, simply supervising or owning an AI that produces something does not suffice to apply for a patent. they.
