In a landmark ruling, the Japanese Supreme Court's second petty bench dismissed an appeal from a US applicant who sought to acknowledge an artificial intelligence (AI) as the inventor on a patent application. The court ruled on June 4 that inventors must be natural persons, effectively reaffirming the decisions from the lower courts that the patent law limits inventor recognition to human beings only. The original application had identified the AI 'Dabus' as having autonomously created the invention, violating the requirement that only individuals can be recognized as inventors under current law.

The case dates back to a 2020 patent application for food container technology, which was submitted with the AI as the named inventor. The Japanese Patent Office mandated corrections in 2021, insisting that the applicant must name a human as the inventor. With the applicant refusing to amend, the application was subsequently rejected. The initial trial highlighted a crucial interpretation of patent laws, indicating that there has been no legal precedent or provision for granting patents to non-human entities like AI, echoing a position held by many other countries.

Although the Supreme Court ruled firmly against recognizing AI as inventors, it also opened a door for future discussions, noting that there could be alternative legislative approaches for rights concerning AI inventions. This ruling sparks significant consideration of how current patent laws may need to evolve in response to technological advancements, emphasizing the need for comprehensive and cautious dialogue on AI's impact on invention rights in society.