The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued guidance on February 13, 2024 (the “Guidance”) regarding the patentability of inventions created or developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence (“AI”), a novel issue on which the USPTO has been seeking input from various public and private stakeholders over the past few years.
President Biden mandated the issuance of such Guidance in his executive order on AI (see our prior alert here) in October 2023. The Guidance aims to clarify how patent applications involving AI-assisted inventions will be examined by patent examiners, and reaffirms the existing jurisprudence maintaining that only natural persons, not AI tools, can be listed as inventors. However, the Guidance clarifies that AI-assisted inventions are not automatically ineligible for patent protection so long as one or more natural persons “significantly contributed” to the invention. Overall, the Guidance underscores the need for a balanced approach to inventorship that acknowledges both technological advancements and human innovation. The USPTO is seeking public feedback on the Guidance, which is due by May 13, 2024.
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