Thaler's lawyers argue that the ruling shows UK patent law is unsuitable for protecting inventions created by AI. Thaler has previously filed other lawsuits related to AI inventions, including an attempt to have his AI system listed as the creator of an artwork. This raises issues around copyright for work created by generative AI systems, with the US Copyright Office denying several claims for artwork created with such systems.
Key takeaways:
- The UK's supreme court has ruled that AI cannot be named as an inventor and secure patent rights.
- US computer scientist Stephen Thaler lost his attempt to register patents for inventions he says were created by his AI system, DABUS.
- The UK's Intellectual Property Office had previously denied the request, concluding that an inventor must be a human to apply for patents.
- Thaler's lawyers argue that UK patent law is currently unsuitable for protecting inventions generated autonomously by AI machines.