John Harmon is a shareholder in both the Mechanical and Chemical & Materials Technologies Practices at  Wolf Greenfield. He represents clients in industry and academia in a wide range of technologies related to the mechanical, materials, and chemistry fields. One area of particular interest these days is the evolving impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on intellectual property matters. 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued its “Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions.” This guidance is pursuant to President Biden's Executive Order last fall on the “safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI.”

In this edition of IP Talk with Wolf Greenfield, John Harmon offers perspective on these early days of AI application.

01:06 - A summary of the latest guidance from the USPTO

06:05 - An overview of the Thaler v. Vidal case

06:53 - What further action might be taken in the future to address the President's concerns?

09:01 - What constitutes an "invention" and how does AI muddy the waters?

11:59 - File earlier rather than later

12:52 - Simply applying AI to a problem doesn’t constitute patentable subject matter

14:29 - The issues that need to be considered when AI and robotics are used together

16:13 - Suggestions for moving forward with AI

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