AI developer Dr Stephen Thaler is ramping up his appeal against a decision made by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) with the appointment of law firm Potter Clarkson.
The appeal, set to be heard at the High Court in July, will examine the ruling made by UKIPO in December 2023 to reject patent applications for two inventions produced by Dr Thaler’s AI system DABUS as it confirmed that, under current UK law, an AI system cannot be named as an investor.
The latest appeal addresses patents related to those litigated at the Supreme Court and addresses the patent applications that were initially filed in 2018.
This landmark case is prompting questions about how intellectual property law, which is still based on the 1977 Patent Act, should adapt.
Dr. Thaler’s litigation is part of the wider Artificial Inventor Project, spearheaded by Professor Ryan Abbott, professor of law and health sciences at the University of Surrey and counsel of record in Thaler’s US and UK cases.
The project aims to address the legal handling of AI-generated inventions across jurisdictions.
Mark Nichols, head of AI at Potter Clarkson, said he has been closely following the case. “[This case creates] important economic and philosophical debate about the value of AI creativity and inventiveness, so [I] had no hesitation in accepting Professor Abbott’s proposal to be involved in the UK appeals.
“DABUS is an extremely interesting project and our team at Potter Clarkson is excited to be working on it.”
Professor Ryan Abbott outlined the goals of the Artificial Inventor Project: “When we commenced our Artificial Inventor Project, we had three goals in mind: to generate guidance for stakeholders; to promote a public discourse on how the law should deal with the use of AI in invention; and to promote the view that AI-generated inventions are beneficial to protect.
“We have already achieved some of these goals. The new appeal led by Potter Clarkson will add to the Artificial Inventor Project by looking at the more procedural points of AI patent applications.”
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