A legal challenge is being prepared to overturn the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPONZ) decision not to recognise a machine as an inventor.
The test case is being led by University of Surrey law professor Ryan Abbott, who has been testing patent law around the world. It centres around Dabus, a "creativity machine", developed by US physicist Stephen Thaler.
Prof Abbott asked Mr Thaler if they could use the AI for the case and a team of lawyers, all working pro bono, filed patent applications in more than a dozen countries listing Dabus as the inventor of a beverage container it created.
New Zealand assistant commissioner of patents Mark Luiten rejected the initial application in January, ruling that the term "inventor" refers to a person.
Prof Abbott confirmed to RNZ he was planning to appeal but was depending on IPONZ waiving the requirement for its legal costs to be covered if the appeal failed.
"This really has to do with the evolution of technology," he said.
Prof Abbott said the test case was not about legal rights for machines, but trying to get a patent for "the inventive output from an AI".
Prof Abbott said a company that owns an inventive AI should own the patents. Putting a person’s name down as the inventor instead of the AI was not an option because in some jurisdictions it was a criminal offence to list the wrong person as the inventor and could render the patent invalid.
Recognising AI inventorship would encourage companies to develop more AI systems that could create inventions of benefit to society — the whole purpose of patent law, Prof Abbott said.
By Nicholas Pointon
