U.S. District Court Judge Affirms USPTO’s Finding That an Artificial Intelligence Machine (named “DABUS”) Cannot be an Inventor Pursuant to Current U.S. Patent Law

In an unsurprising ruling, Judge Leonie Brinkema (Eastern District of Virginia) sided with the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO), determining that an "artificial intelligence [AI] machine" cannot be an "inventor" under current U.S. patent law. The case involved a patent application filed with the USPTO naming an AI machine dubbed "DABUS" as the inventor.

As an interesting side note, she added: "As technology evolves, there may come a time when artificial intelligence reaches a level of sophistication such that it might satisfy the accepted meaning of inventorship." But, she said, "that time has not yet arrived, and, if it does, it will be up to Congress to decide how, if at all, it wants to expand the scope of patent law."

The case is Thaler v. Iancu, case no. 1:20-cv-00903 (E.D. Va)

Subscribers may access the Law360 article "Only Humans, Not AI, Can Be An Inventor, Va. Judge Rules" for further information.