The European Patent Office Refuses Two Patent Applications Designating A Machine Inventor

The European Patent Office has refused two European patent applications in which a machine is designated as an inventor. Both patent applications indicate “DABUS” as inventor, which is described as “a type of connectionist artificial intelligence.” The applicant stated that they acquired the right to the European patent from the inventor by being its successor in title.

After hearing applicant’s arguments in non-public oral proceedings, the European Patent Office refused the two European patent applications on the grounds that they do not meet the requirement of the EPC that an inventor designated in the application has to be a human being, not a machine.