Australia grants a patent to an AI

In the US, it will be difficult for an artificial intelligence to be granted a patent because US laws have been interpreted to require an inventor to be a natural person. 35 U.S.C. §§ 100(f)-(g) and § 101 use words like “individual” and “whoever” in the context of inventorship, thereby implying natural persons. 35 U.S.C. § 115(b) requires that the oath or declaration be signed by an individual when that individual believes “himself or herself” to be an inventor of the claimed invention.

However, in Australia, on July 30, 2021, a court recently overturned the Australian Patent Office's position that an AI cannot be an inventor. Thaler v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCA 879 (Fed. Court of Australia 2021).

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