In the News: Can AI Own Patents?; Fading China Optimism; and US Targets Chinese Chips

December 11, 2024 | BY

Clarence Lee &Brian Chan

State Intellectual Property Office issues guidelines on AI as patent inventors; German and British companies are less optimistic about their China prospects, with a caveat; and U.S. adds a range of companies involved in Chinese chipmaking to Entity List

Promulgated: 2024-12-07

Credit: peshkova/Adobe Stock


China Determines Whether AI Can be Registered as Inventors">China Determines Whether AI Can be Registered as Inventors

On Dec 6, China’s State Intellectual Property Office issued the Guidelines for Patent Applications for Artificial Intelligence-Related Inventions (Draft for Comments) (人工智能相关发明专利申请指引（征求意见稿)). It mentions that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be granted inventor status, under China's current legal background, according to Caixin. The Draft differentiates between two different types of inventions: (1) inventions with the help of AI, which refer to inventions and creations obtained by using AI technology as an auxiliary tool in the invention process; and (2) inventions generated by AI, which refer to inventions that are autonomously generated without substantive human contribution.

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