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Portrait of Ana Nordberg. Photo.

Ana Nordberg

Senior lecturer

Portrait of Ana Nordberg. Photo.

Creative Machines, Orphan Inventions: AI and the concept of inventor at the EPO

Author

  • Ana Nordberg

Editor

  • Marie Karlsson-Tuula
  • Per Jonas Nordell
  • Frantzeska Papadopoulou
  • Annina H. Persson

Summary, in English

In 2018, an AI system named by its creator DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience) was credited by its creator to have independently invented a neural flame and a fractal container. According to its creator, DABUS is a ‘sentient artificial general intelligence can replicate all aspects of human cognition, including perception, creativity, consciousness, and sentience’ and these creative machines are capable of having ‘subjective feelings about their cognitive products.’ (Thaler, 2021).

This chapter analyses the ongoing attempts to patent the output of this AI system at the EPO, the decision of the receiving section and legal board of appeal (JBA), discussing a selection of relevant points of law raised by this case. Several decisions concerning the DABUS case have also been issued at national level, a few will be very briefly analyzed to provide context to the ensuing discussion on de lege ferenda proposals for legislative interventions regarding orphan inventions.

Department/s

  • Health Law
  • Lund University Centre for Business Law (Swedish abbr: ACLU)
  • Department of Law

Publishing year

2022-09-24

Language

English

Pages

159-180

Publication/Series

Magna Mater Marianne Levin 2022 : Festskrift till Marianne Levin

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Jure

Topic

  • Law

Keywords

  • Private law
  • Patent law
  • Patententability of AI
  • AI inventions
  • Concept of inventor
  • AI & patent law
  • Civilrätt
  • Patenträtt

Status

Published

Project

  • AI and Automated systems and the Right to Health - Revisiting law accounting for the exploitation of users’ preferences and values (AICARE)

Research group

  • Health Law
  • Lund University Centre for Business Law (Swedish abbr: ACLU)

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-91-7223-887-9