Can AI Invent? High Court Asked to Take Up Thorny Patent Issue

A computer scientist seeking recognition from courts around the world that his artificial intelligence program qualifies as an inventor is taking his case to the US Supreme Court.

Stephen Thaler filed a petition for review Friday, his lawyers said, asking the justices to consider whether inventions created by his AI program should be eligible for patent protection. The appeal seeks to reverse a Federal Circuit decision that held inventors must be humans.

“This holding—which overlooks that ‘individual’ may simply refer to a single entity as opposed to a collective such as a corporation or government—completely denies patent protection to any ...