Artificial intelligence is breaking patent law
... Another challenge is even more fundamental. An ‘inventive step’ occurs when an invention is deemed ‘non-obvious’ to a ‘person skilled in the art’. This notional person has the average level of skill and general knowledge of an ordinary expert in the relevant technical field. ...
But if AIs become more knowledgeable and skilled than all people in a field, it is unclear how a human patent examiner could assess whether an AI’s invention was obvious. An AI system built to review all information published about an area of technology before it invents would possess a much larger body of knowledge than any human could. Assessed against all knowledge, almost everything would seem obvious4. If everyone has access to such AI tools in future, then the ‘inventive step’ criterion of patentability would be close to impossible to achieve, and almost nothing would be patentable. A complete rethink would be required. ...
Patents are registered separately in each jurisdiction, and enforcement disputes must normally be resolved by the legal system of the country of registration. ...
Instead, an AI-IP treaty could include dispute-resolution mechanisms, perhaps adjudicated by a specialist international court. Inspiration can be found in Europe’s new Unified Patent Court, which is due to commence in the next year (www.unified-patent-court.org), and various arbitration courts around the world. ...
See the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01391-x
