US patent office confirms AI can’t hold patents::The US Patent and Trademark Office maintains that only natural humans can get patents, but people do have to disclose if they used AI for the invention.
US patent office confirms AI can’t hold patents::The US Patent and Trademark Office maintains that only natural humans can get patents, but people do have to disclose if they used AI for the invention.
Unfortunately the US moved from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-patent a few years back. Terrible idea.
And for the record, the US was one of the last western countries to switch
Prior art is still a thing though, and invalidates a patent. I think first to file just means you can’t keep an idea secret and then “surprise!, we already invented that be we’ve been keeping it a secret, but trust us, we were first”. If you publish an idea, it establishes prior art and, in theory, prevents future patents of that idea.
Unfortunately I’ve seen plenty of patents misused exactly as you described. Patent trolls are a thing