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The DABUS case has caused a sensation in this context. These are two inventions with a great peculiarity: They were not made by a human being, but by a machine. The attempt of an individual to register the machine as inventor under the name DABUS failed.
"The machine identified the novelty of his own idea before a natural person did," the applicant stated.
But the EPO rejected the patent application anyway. The requirements that an inventor must be a natural person are not met. In its decision, the EPO refers to the legal framework of the European patent system as well as internationally applicable standards. Giving a name to the machine in order to register it as an inventor is far from sufficient.
However, AI is already an integral part of many innovative processes. The EPO's decision not to register a machine as an inventor does not end the debate about AI.
Inventions of artificial intelligence can certainly have an influence on the patent system:
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As founder and COO of noventive, Jens Reinhard is responsible for all legal issues, the operative business of the law firm as well as client service. Jens Reinhard is a patent attorney and mechanical engineer with many years of professional experience in the patent business, in law firms and industry.
