AI as a Patent Inventor—An Update From South Africa and Australia

Alistair Maughan, Anna Yuan, and Georgia Wright authored an article for The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law discussing South Africa and Australia not following suit with the European Patent Office's ruling that artificial intelligence (AI) systems cannot be listed as inventors on patent applications.

"The 'Artificial Inventor Project,' an international group of patent attorneys, filed patent applications directed to inventions that were supposedly 'invented' by DABUS, an AI system developed by Dr. Stephen Thaler," the authors wrote. "The applications are directed to a light emitting device that could be used as an emergency signal beacon and a food container device."

According to the authors, "a patent application was granted in South Africa by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, listing DABUS as the inventor and Dr. Thaler as the owner of the patent," while the Australian court reasoned that "the ordinary meaning of 'inventor' does not preclude non-humans."

Read the full article.