US Court Rules Artificial Intelligence Systems Are Not 'Inventors'

On September 2, 2021, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO's) motion for summary judgement, finding that an artificial intelligence (AI) system cannot be named as an inventor on a patent. The action concerned two patent applications that Stephen Thaler had filed with the USPTO, which he alleged should not have been rejected by the Office. The USPTO had rejected the applications on the basis that no natural person was identified as an inventor. Thaler argued that a patent application for an AI-generated invention should list the AI system as the inventor when the AI system has met the invention criteria. Thaler alleged that he developed and applied advanced AI systems that are capable of generating patentable output under conditions where no natural person traditionally meets inventorship criteria. Thaler is the owner of "DABUS," an AI machine that "invented" a light beacon that flashes in a new and inventive manner to attract attention, and a beverage container based on fractal geometry.