Can an artificial intelligence system be listed as an inventor on a patent? This question has been litigated in the US, Europe, UK, and Australia, triggered by Stephen Thaler’s AI system DABUS. Sample patent application: WO2020/079499 (Google Patents).
How Courts Ruled
The USPTO rejected the applications — US patent law requires inventors to be natural persons. The EPO rejected them similarly. The UK Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that DABUS cannot be a patent inventor. Australia’s Full Federal Court reversed an initial pro-AI ruling. No major jurisdiction has upheld AI inventorship to date.
The Disclosure Problem
If AI-generated inventions cannot be patented, companies may keep them as trade secrets. The patent bargain — public disclosure in exchange for temporary exclusivity — breaks down. If AI innovations are locked away rather than disclosed, the cumulative benefit to society that patent law is designed to produce does not materialize. This is the central unsolved question in IP policy today.
For informational purposes only. Not legal advice.
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