AI Use Risks Drop in New Patents as Ideas Are Rendered ‘Obvious’

Artificial intelligence has the potential to render some innovations too obvious to be granted patents, creating roadblocks for inventors using the technology to receive economically vital protections, some intellectual property attorneys say.

The rapid rise in AI use has led to a boom in patent applications for inventions created with help from the technology, according to attorneys and statistics from the US Patent and Trademark Office. Those AI-assisted inventions raise questions about current eligibility requirements for patent protection and the significant economic boost the protections yield.

US law grants the legal monopoly of a patent only for significant advances in ...