The scientist says his DABUS system has produced unique prototypes for a drink holder and light beacon
The case will be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States | Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
A computer scientist who has campaigned worldwide for patents created by his artificial intelligence system took his case to the US Supreme Court on Friday.
Stephen Thaler has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling that patents can only be issued to human inventors and that his AI system cannot be considered the legal creator of the inventions he has produced.
In his briefing, Thaler said that AI is being used to innovate in fields ranging from medicine to energy and that the refusal of patents generated by AI “limits the ability of our patent system—and thwarts the intent of Congress—to optimally spur innovation and technological progress.”
Thaler said its DABUS system has produced unique prototypes of a beverage holder and light beacon, on its own.
The US Patent and Trademark Office and the Virginia federal court denied patent applications for the inventions on the grounds that DABUS is not a person. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld those decisions last year and said US patent law categorically requires that inventors be human.
Thaler’s petition stated, “Nowhere in the text of the patent law did Congress limit the term ‘inventor’—or the word ‘individual’ in its definition—to natural persons only.”
Rules like the patent law, the petition says, “use broad language designed to keep pace with technological change.”
The United States Copyright Office also denied Thaler’s application for copyright protection for art generated by the AI, which Thaler appealed. In a separate dispute, the office also denied copyright to images created by an artist using Midjourney’s generative AI system in February.
Thaler has also applied for patents on DABUS in other countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
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