MACHINE BORNE INVENTIONS & OWNERSHIP: A PATENTING PERSPECTIVE

Artificial Intelligence (AI), in recent times, has been a hotly debated topic of interest worldwide. Various stakeholders, including the technologists, researchers, lawmakers, regulatory authorities, administration or the public in general are anxiously awaiting solutions to multifaceted challenges grappling AI industry today. Importantly, notions pertaining to legalities underpinning the evolution, emergence and execution of AI enabled technologies have gained widespread relevance. Amongst them, proprietary issues of inventorship, ownership, product liability etc. remain a key question. This primarily holds true for researchers interested in conceptualizing a new piece of intellectual work, establishing its ownership and eventually commercializing the same. Intellectual Property (IP) laws have been discretely administering the patent rules for ‘natural persons'. However, determination of true proprietorship over technologies exclusively borne of a ‘non-natural person' is setting a strong undercurrent within patent community today. Many questions pertaining to proprietary interest in AI technologies have been baffling. Is the creator of AI machine also responsible for future uncertainties? How a machine is made accountable? Is it possible to confer a distinct identity to machine borne work? What may be the implications on existing patent regime? Will the unrealistic assessment of machine work by humans question the standards of patentability? If strict liabilities or penalties imposed on original creator of such machine stifle AI innovations in any way? The present study summarizes the assessment of factors influencing AI patent regime, potential challenges encountered by governing authorities during examination, and probable solutions for its reparation.