Do generative AI inventions and works qualify for patents and copyrights? The Thaler and SURYAST decisions
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems and in particular generative AI (GenAI) systems have raised the question as to whether technical advances in the useful arts or synthetic content generated using these tools can qualify for patent or copyright protection. Recent decisions in both the patent and copyright fields have denied protection for otherwise patentable inventions and copyright works where the sole claimed inventor or author is identified as an artificial intelligence system. The recent UK Supreme Court decisions in Thaler (Appellant) v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2023]UKSC 49 and the US Copyright Review Board in Refusal to Register SURYAST are illustrative.…