UK Supreme Court: AI Cannot Be Patented or Named as an Inventor

The UK Supreme Court has upheld previous decisions rejecting a bid to allow an artificial intelligence (AI) to be named as an inventor in a patent application. The court concluded that "an inventor must be a person" and that an AI cannot be named as an inventor to secure patent rights. The decision does not address whether the AI in question actually invented the items. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) welcomed the judgment and stated that the UK patent system will continue to support AI innovation. However, legal experts anticipate growing pressure for changes to existing laws as AIs become more capable of generating novel ideas.