ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact of AI systems on the relevant elements of patent law in the jurisdictions concerned (Europe, the United States, Australia, Japan). The relevant elements chosen for the analysis are the definition of patentable subject matter, the requirement of inventive step or non-obviousness, disclosure or enablement, inventorship and, where applicable, utility models or similar regimes. The analysis is built against the background of an enquiry as to how AI intervenes in the inventing process, and a revision of patent rationales that justify the grant of patent protection. The chapter will demonstrate how the inventing process is (still) very much dependent on human intervention, and how patent laws are premised on the existence of a human inventor. It will also be apparent that there is a high level of international harmonisation with regard to most of the elements selected. It will be concluded that, despite the human contribution to the invention, the AI intervention in the inventing process puts a strain on patent rationales. Thus, the chapter recommends a few modifications at the level of Patent Offices’ Guidelines, which shall be geared towards realigning patent practices with the original justifications of the patent system.
