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Join the Emerging Technologies Committee for a Meet Up discussing Patenting by AI Entities: Review of DABUS Decisions

Can (or should) an AI rightfully be listed as an inventor of a patented technology? Attorneys, academics, and futurists alike have contemplated this question for years, but the machine that brought the hypothetical into reality was DABUS, a patented AI system by Dr. Stephen Thaler.

Through complex sets of neural networks, DABUS has the ability to generate ideas and further analyze these ideas for novelty, utility or value. This process enabled DABUS to autonomously generate inventions for which patents were filed in multiple jurisdictions, including in the European Patent Office (EPO), the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Notwithstanding findings that the applications meet the requirements of patentability, each Office has rejected DABUS’ applications, citing that a non-natural person cannot be listed as an “inventor” under current legislation.

Dr. Thaler will discuss what exactly DABUS is, how DABUS autonomously generated the inventions for which patent applications were filed, and the rationale behind listing DABUS as the inventor. Dr. Thaler’s presentation will be followed by an engaging panel discussion between Ryan Abbott, Richard Kennedy, and Gareth Jones who will each review the various patent office decisions and provide insight as to the underlying legal issues.

Speakers

• Stephen Thaler

  Imagination Engines, Inc. | President and CEO

  Dr. Stephen Thaler earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Missouri-Columbia, his thesis research dealing with radiation damage in silicon. In conducting this research, he simulated such damage in computational lattice models, forerunners of modern-day artificial neural networks
• Abbott, Ryan

  University of Surrey School of Law | Professor of Law and Health Sciences

  Ryan Abbott is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the University of Surrey School of Law, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Partner at Brown, Neri, Smith & Khan, LLP, and a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS.
• Richard Kennedy

  Venner Shipley, LLP | Partner

  Richard Kennedy is a European and UK patent attorney, and a partner at Venner Shipley LLP, a full-service IP law firm based in the UK.
• Gareth Jones

  BenevolentAI | Vice President of Intellectual Property

  Gareth Jones is one of the world's leading IP strategists (IAM Strategy 300). He is Vice President of Intellectual Property at BenevolentAI.