Patent not pending

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The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has ruled that only humans can be credited as an inventor in a patent, and artificial intelligence systems cannot. The decision came in response to two patents — one for a “fractal profile” food container and the other for a flashing light — that were created by an AI system called DABUS. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have already ruled that DABUS, which was created by AI researcher Stephen Thaler, cannot be listed as an inventor. Unless the law changes in the future, artificial intelligence is likely to continue to be seen as an inventing tool, rather than an inventor. If humans can’t be listed as inventors when they aren’t directly involved in the inventive process, and AI can’t be listed as an inventor either, then future AI inventions could be non-patentable, ever.

⇨ The Verge, Jon Porter, “US patent office rules that artificial intelligence cannot be a legal inventor.”