Can an AI machine be an inventor? The future of AI, IP and innovation

This session will cover how a recent UK Court of Appeal decision in the Thaler/ DABUS case affects the likely future development of inventions by an AI system in the future from a IP perspective. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform our society and economy. Recently it has become a focus area for investors. Dynamic development of AI technologies, and their increased prevalence, has raised questions as to whether existing patent laws are equipped for such innovations. A recent UK Court of Appeal decision in the Thaler/DABUS case reiterated that the current legislative regime does not allow for a machine to be named as an inventor of a patentable invention. This mirrors decisions across the globe, with exceptions in South Africa and Australia. It is likely that this case will reach the UK Supreme Court but, ultimately legislative change must take place. 

In what promises to be a thought-provoking cross sector discussion, Pinsent Masons experts Mark Marfé and Sue Chadwick will be joined by special guests Prof Chris Dent (Chair of Industrial Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute) and Alexander Korenberg (Kilburn & Strode Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys), to discuss the likely future developments in the UK and further afield, whether invention by an AI system is likely to be a reality in the future, and the ethical considerations surrounding such issues.