C3P-No! USPTO Says No AI Inventors
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.04.20
Last Monday, the PTO affirmed its earlier (and unsurprising) position that a patent application filed in July was incomplete because it named an artificial intelligence as the inventor. The application is believed to be among the first to name an AI as an inventor.
In reaffirming its position of AI non-inventorship, the PTO noted that the Title 35 consistently suggests personhood and refers to inventors as natural persons. As one example, said the PTO, the statutes involving the inventor oath or declaration refer to the executor as a “person.” Interpreting “inventor” to broadly encompass non-persons, argued the PTO, would contradict the plain reading of the statutes.
The USPTO also relied on Federal Circuit decisions that exclude states and corporations from holding inventorship. These decisions, the PTO noted, explain that the entire concept of “conception” – the touchstone of inventorship – requires a human mind to do the conceiving.
The attempt to name an AI as the inventor illustrates how advances in AI technology continue to challenge our traditional thinking about personhood – and how the law will have to cope with the evolving concept. Read the full decision here.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 02.03.26
CMS Doubles Down on RADV Audit Changes
On January 27, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Health Plan Management System (HPMS) memo that provided a long-awaited update on how the agency plans to approach previously announced Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) audits for Payment Years (PY) 2020-2024. The memo is the agency’s most comprehensive statement on the subject since September 25, 2025, when the Northern District of Texas vacated the 2023 RADV Final Rule. The memo makes clear that, while CMS has made certain operational adjustments in response to concerns expressed by Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), the agency is largely pressing forward with the accelerated audit strategy announced in May 2025.
Client Alert | 2 min read | 02.03.26
Sedona Model Jury Instructions for DTSA: A Step Forward—But Questions Remain
Client Alert | 7 min read | 01.30.26
CMS Proposes CY 2027 Growth Rate and Changes to Risk Adjustment for Medicare Parts C and D
Client Alert | 4 min read | 01.30.26
Optimum’s Shot Across the Bow: An Antitrust Challenge to Cooperation Agreements
