Circuit Decision on AI Complicates Inventor Strategies

The Federal Circuit recently held as a matter of statutory interpretation that an artificial intelligence system cannot be named as an inventor on a US patent application. This holding, which effectively excludes AI systems from the category of "individuals" eligible to be named as inventors, may complicate the intellectual property strategies of innovators who use advanced AI for research and development. Here's what happened and why it matters. The Federal Circuit was asked to determine whether an AI system called DABUS could be named as the inventor on two separate patent applications. The first disclosed a light source that was calibrated with a specific frequency corresponding to, among other characteristics, certain human brainwave activity.