US Patent Office Issues New Guidelines For AI-Assisted Inventions

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued new guidelines outlining when inventions created with the help of AI can be patented. From a report: USPTO Director John Squires said on Wednesday in a notice set to be published Friday, that the office considers generative AI systems to be 'analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other tool that assists in the inventive process.'

'They may provide services and generate ideas, but they remain tools used by the human inventor who conceived the claimed invention,' the office said. 'When one natural person is involved in creating an invention with the assistance of AI, the inquiry is whether that person conceived the invention under the traditional conception standard.'

The office reiterated its guidance from last year that AI itself cannot be considered an inventor under U.S. patent law. However, it rejected the approach taken by the PTO during former President Joe Biden's administration for deciding when AI-assisted inventions are patentable, which relied on a standard normally used to determine when multiple people can qualify as joint inventors.

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