The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued new guidance providing crucial clarity on AI and intellectual property. The key ruling: inventions developed with AI assistance are eligible for patent protection, but only if a human qualifies as the inventor.
The Core Principle
The USPTO's position is clear: generative AI systems should be treated as tools, not inventors. Just as a computer-aided design system doesn't become an inventor by helping an engineer design a part, an AI system doesn't become an inventor by helping generate solutions.
What This Means in Practice
For companies using AI in R&D, the guidance provides a framework:
- AI-assisted brainstorming: Patentable if a human selects and refines the concepts
- AI-generated solutions: Patentable if a human provides significant creative input
- AI-only invention: Not patentable—no human inventor exists
Documentation Requirements
The guidance emphasizes that patent applicants must be able to demonstrate human contribution. This means companies should:
- Document the human's role in the inventive process
- Record prompts, iterations, and selection decisions
- Maintain logs of how AI outputs were refined
- Clearly identify which aspects came from human insight
For now, the message is: AI is a tool. Use it. But keep humans in the loop—literally, for legal reasons.