The UK’s Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by US inventor Stephen Thaler, who had sought patents for two ideas, a beverage container and a flashing light, which he said were created by an AI machine called DABUS. The judges ruled that patents require an inventor to be a natural person, and because “DABUS is not a person at all,” Thaler’s appeal was unanimously dismissed.
The ruling is the first by any country’s highest tribunal and assumes significance as the UK aims for a pioneering role in AI technologies. The judgment has disadvantaged the UK in supporting AI-dependent industries and could disincentivise the disclosure of inventions by AI systems.
Source: Australasian Lawyer
Leave a Reply