KIPO "Public Opinion Collection on AI Invention Recognition... Leading International Discussions"

Whether artificial intelligence (AI) inventors can have legal status is becoming a hot issue both domestically and internationally. Currently, most countries maintain the position that it is difficult to grant legal status to AI inventors. However, the consensus is that this stance may change in the long term.

In this regard, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has decided to lead international discussions by first establishing a domestic position on whether to grant legal status to AI inventors through a public opinion survey.

Diagram of the invention process of 'Dabus'. Dabus is an artificial intelligence developed by American AI expert Steven Taylor. Provided by the Patent Office.

According to KIPO on the 3rd, on the 30th of last month, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of KIPO in an administrative lawsuit filed by American AI developer Steven Taylor against KIPO. The court confirmed through its ruling that under current law, "only humans are recognized as inventors," marking the first such case in Asia.

Previously, Steven Taylor claimed that the AI he developed, ‘Dabus,’ independently created two inventions, including a food container, by learning general knowledge, and filed international patents (PCT) listing Dabus as the inventor in 16 countries including South Korea. However, KIPO invalidated the application, stating that "patent applications listing AI rather than a natural person as the inventor are not permitted."

KIPO requested Steven Taylor to amend the patent application inventor from ‘Dabus’ to a natural person, but since this request was not accepted, the case was concluded as if the application had never existed (invalidated). Meanwhile, Steven Taylor filed an administrative lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court in December last year to contest KIPO’s decision, but ultimately failed to obtain legal inventor status for ‘Dabus.’

The refusal to recognize AI such as ‘Dabus’ as inventors reflects the prevailing trend in the international community, including South Korea. Currently, there is a strong negative perception regarding AI inventions and the granting of patent rights for such inventions. For example, the supreme courts of countries like the United States, Europe, and Australia have already ruled that AI (including Dabus) cannot be recognized as inventors, while in countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, similar cases are still pending in their supreme courts.

However, in the long term, there is a possibility that AI inventor status may be recognized. Regardless of the current court rulings in major countries (which do not recognize AI inventor status), recent cases of AI contributing to the creation of works in fields such as art and music are emerging daily. Additionally, AI has shortened the production time of semiconductor chips from several months to six hours and improved the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines by more than 100 times, expanding its scope and contribution, making it difficult to ignore these developments.

In this context, KIPO will conduct a ‘public opinion survey’ on the legal status of AI inventors by opening a section titled ‘Artificial Intelligence and Invention (tentative)’ on its website from the 20th of this month until the end of September. Furthermore, in October, KIPO plans to form an expert consultative body comprising industry, academia, and research sectors to establish directions for a patent law system responding to AI inventions and to organize South Korea’s position.

In particular, KIPO intends to communicate the established position through a series of processes to international intellectual property forums, including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) meeting in October this year and the IP5 Heads of Office meeting to be held in South Korea in June next year, and to lead the discussions.

Lee In-sil, Commissioner of KIPO, said, "Through the last IP5 Heads of Office meeting, I felt that major countries’ patent offices and industries have a keen interest in various intellectual property issues related to AI," adding, "KIPO will focus its capabilities on playing a leading role in discussions on AI-related patent systems with IP5, WIPO, and others to ensure that an internationally harmonized patent system is established."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.