The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released new guidelines to make it clear that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be listed as an inventor on any patent. These rules were published on Friday and explain how inventions created with the help of AI will be treated under US patent law. The agency says that AI tools are just like equipment, and only humans can be recognised as inventors.
According to the new guidelines, AI-assisted inventions will follow the same rules as traditional inventions. The USPTO says AI systems, including generative AI models, must be viewed as tools similar to laboratory machines, software programs, or research databases. These tools may help people come up with ideas, but the human must still be the one who “conceives” the invention. This means only the human who develops the core idea can be named as the inventor in the patent.
The USPTO also cancelled its earlier 2024 draft guidance, which had suggested that AI might possibly qualify for joint inventorship. The agency stated that the “Pannu factors,” which are used to determine whether multiple human inventors can share credit, do not apply when only one human and an AI system are involved. Since AI is not a person, it cannot be a co-inventor under any circumstances.
Importantly, the USPTO stressed that there is no separate or special standard for evaluating inventions created with AI assistance. Patent examiners will continue to review applications using the existing rules. Their focus will be on whether a human conceived the main idea and described it properly in technical terms. The amount of help the AI provided—such as suggesting ideas, drafting text, or analysing data—will not change the inventorship decision.
The agency also explained that the responsibility remains with the applicant. The inventor must show that the invention was produced through human creativity and decision-making. Simply using AI tools does not make the AI an inventor, nor does it automatically make the invention eligible for a patent.
These new rules aim to reduce confusion as AI becomes more common in research and development. By clearly stating that only humans can be inventors, the USPTO hopes to keep the patent system consistent, transparent and focused on human innovation.
