In recent months, “Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience” (DABUS) has dominated patent headlines. DABUS is an AI system created by Dr. Stephen Thaler that “generates novel ideas … having the most novelty, utility, and value.” Simply put, it’s a machine that is good at inventing stuff. So good, in fact, that Dr. Thaler has even filed patent applications on two of DABUS’s inventions in ten countries and the European Patent Office (EPO).

Dr. Thaler’s patent applications named only one inventor: DABUS. Three patent offices: UKIPO, EPO, and USPTO have substantively reviewed the applications and have unanimously rejected the applications because DABUS, a non-human, cannot be named as an inventor. In light of these rejections and at a time when patent laws are not equipped to handle an AI inventor, creative solutions are required to secure patent (or other intellectual property) protection for inventions conceived by AI.