Patent Office Issues Guidance on AI Tools for Practitioners

Patent applicants bear the responsibility to disclose any use of artificial intelligence that could affect an invention’s patentability, the US Patent and Trademark Office said in new guidance issued two months after clarifying how much human contribution is needed to receive patent protection.

The guidance, which will publish Thursday on the Federal Register, details how existing PTO rules apply to the use of AI. The notice comes two months after Director Kathi Vidal sent a memorandum to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and Office of the General Counsel describing the agency’s existing rules ...