Thaler –v- The Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks
Tuesday 27th July 2021
Appeal against the Order of Mr Justice Marcus Smith dated 21st September 2020 in which he refused to accept the Applicant’s appeal against the decision of the Comptroller of the UKIPO of 4 December 2019, number BL O/741/19, in connection with two British patent application numbers.
Background
The case involves whether for an invention created by an AI system under circumstances in which the AI system is the sole and actual deviser of the invention, the AI system can and should be designated as the inventor, pursuant to Section 13(2)(a) of the Patents Act 1977, and whether the Applicant, Dr Stephen L Thaler, as the owner of the AI system, is entitled to the grant of the patents under the provisions of Section 7 of the Act. The inventions in question have both been deemed to meet the requirements of patentability and there has been no objection to the granting of the patents in principle.
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