In August, the United Kingdom Patent Office and the European Union Patent Office received two absolutely novel applications, not so much for what was intended to be registered as for the inventor that was intended to be recorded: artificial intelligence.
Currently, however, the respective legislations contemplate inventors necessarily as a natural person, whilst artificial intelligence is nothing but a tool, according to the latest report published on the subject by the European Patent Office. The author of this report understands that it will take at least 50 years for artificial intelligence to come close to the functions that allow a human being to be considered an inventor (to conceive from the beginning an idea or plan for obtaining a result). In other words, this will not be until artificial intelligence possesses extensive knowledge and cognitive computing skills. When this happens, obviously, all legal repercussions will go far beyond the field of Intellectual Property.
In any case, both patents are being processed without objections, in the absence of to whom the respective inventions are attributed to. It should be mentioned that the human brain behind the two applications is Mr. Stephen Thaler, an artificial intelligence expert living in Missouri. Mr. Thaler developed an entire training plan so that his artificial intelligence system would produce increasingly complex concepts. He says the most surprising thing about the whole case is that a machine was able to create inventions in two very different areas outside its programmer’s field.
Therefore, we remain attentive to the end of the story, to know who (or perhaps we should say what?) ends up being officially considered the inventor.
Article by Jaume Layola.
