DABUS (Intellectual Property High Court of Japan)

AI and inventorship

Can AI be an inventor?

Human inventors only

Inventors are natural persons; recognising AI is for the legislature

Holding

Upholding the Tokyo District Court and the Japan Patent Office, the IP High Court held that an inventor under the Patent Act must be a natural person, and said the question of AI inventors is difficult to deal with by interpreting current law and is a matter for policymakers.

Japan joins the human-inventor rule while flagging it as a legislative question.

Principles it bears on

• SupportsOnly a natural person can be named as an inventor.

Sources

No official text linked yet: this summary relies on a secondary source. Verify against the original before citing.