Tech Companies Clash on Patent Office AI Inventorship Guidance

Google and Amazon.com Inc. praised the US Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance on how much human involvement is necessary to secure protection for inventions created with the assistance of AI. Meanwhile, IBM and a pharmaceutical trade association expressed trepidation.

The proponent companies commended the guidance’s focus on human contribution to determine patentability, while IBM and large drug lobbyist Biotechnology Innovation Organization voiced concern about how the agency will determine whether human contributions are “significant” enough to constitute inventorship. The comments were posted after the Monday deadline for feedback passed.

The patent office issued guidance in February explaining that AI-assisted ...