US Issues New Patent Guidelines, Says AI Cannot Be Listed as Inventor

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued new guidelines clarifying how inventions developed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and tools will be treated under the US patent law. A notice regarding this change to the patent guidelines was published on Friday, highlighting that AI-assistent inventions do not quality the AI system itself to be treated as the inventor. The regulator highlighted that AI systems are viewed as tools and equipments, and they cannot be named in a patent application.

USPTO Shares New AI-Related Patent Guidelines

In a notification issued on Friday, the USPTO stated revised patent guidelines for AI-assisted inventions, highlighting that the technology will no longer be evaluated under a separate standard. Now, for inventorship, the same rules as traditional inventions will apply to AI systems. The patent watchdog also said that generative AI systems must be viewed as “tools” used by human inventors, not as inventors themselves. Only a human being who conceived the claimed invention may be named on the patent.

“AI systems, including generative AI and other computational models, are instruments used by human inventors. They are analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other tool that assists in the inventive process[..]They may provide services and generate ideas, but they remain tools used by the human inventor who conceived the claimed invention,” the notification stated.

The previously issued guidance from February 2024, which had considered applying a joint-inventor standard when AI is involved, has now been rescinded. The USPTO formally stated that the so-called “Pannu factors” (three criteria from the court case Pannu v. Iolab Corp), used historically to determine whether multiple human co-inventors qualify, do not apply when only one human inventor is involved and AI assistance is used.

Importantly, the agency emphasised there is no separate or modified standard for AI-assisted inventions. Examiners will evaluate inventive contributions using existing criteria, focusing on human conception of the core inventive idea and any improvements being technically described, rather than on the role of AI in generating drafts or suggestions.

Further, while AI assistance is not prohibited, the burden remains on applicants to demonstrate that human creativity and decision-making produced the invention. Generic use of AI tools for drafting, ideation, or data processing does not automatically translate to inventorship or patent eligibility.