By: New York Times
April 29, 2020
An artificial intelligence system has been refused the right to two patents in the US, after a ruling only “natural persons” could be inventors.
The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected two patents where the AI system Dabus was listed as the inventor, in a ruling on Monday.
US patent law had previously only specified eligible inventors had to be “individuals”.
It follows a similar ruling from the UK Intellectual Property Office.
Dabus designed:
- interlocking food containers that are easy for robots to grasp
- a warning light that flashes in a hard-to-ignore rhythm