Patent applications have been filed on behalf of a machine called Dabus that used AI to design a plastic food container and a flashing light. If successful it would be the first time a machine has been recognised as the owner of a design by patent offices.
Applications have been made to the US, EU and UK patent offices to recognise that the machine is the inventor of the two products, and should therefore be the owner of the patent.
At present the UK Patents Act of 1977 restricts inventorship to "natural persons", as does the European Patent Convention. In the US, inventions must be made by an "individual".
Seeking clarity on global IP laws
The machine-designed patent applications were filed by a team led by Ryan Abbott, professor of law and health sciences at the University of Surrey. Abbott said that he has made the applications "for clarity surrounding laws and rules of AI-generated inventions".
"We clearly need change now, and would have benefitted from it two decades ago," he told Dezeen.
Abbott confirmed to Dezeen that he is filing a further Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application today. Made through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, this will allow him to simultaneously seek protection for the designs in a large number of countries.
Patents should "acknowledge the accomplishments of AI developers"
The products ? a food container that can change shape and a flashing light designed ...