Can a Robot Invent? The Fight Around AI and Patents Explained

Patent offices and courts around the world are being asked to tackle a similar question: can an artificial intelligence system qualify as an inventor for a patent? A test case making its way through several countries--from Saudi Arabia to Australia to Brazil--has spurred debate about advancements in artificial intelligence technology and questions about whether patent laws need to be revised to recognize machines as inventors. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently ruled that, under current U.S. law, AI can't be listed as an inventor on a patent. The ruling was in line with what U.S., British, and EU patent officials have concluded. The push to recognize AI as an inventor comes from Ryan Abbott, a University of Surrey law professor, and Stephen Thaler, a computer scientist from Missouri.