AI Inventorship has the potential to be an existential threat to the USPTO – it may further it’s backlog beyond the point of recovery which would significantly harm the US econ

[Matthew, 2018, Texas Law Review, “The USPTO’s Sisyphean Plan: Increasing Manpower Will Not Match Artificial Intelligence’s Inventive Capabilities,” Volume 96, No. 4, 874-889, , accessed 7-8-2024, CM ]

Putting the potential negative repercussions for other U.S. agencies aside, Abbott does not contend with the effects that listing an AI as an inventor would have on the patent backlog. Although, generally speaking, Abbott hopes that it would incentivize greater innovation.6464Abbott, supra note 2, at 1081. CLOSE This would most certainly increase the number of patent applications, exacerbating the USPTO’s backlog even more. And as previously explained, a growing patent backlog has severe repercussions for the U.S. and world economy.

Another concern that goes unmentioned by Abbott is that adding AI as an inventor may incentivize AI to be placed on other patent application documents as well. Businesses and law firms already have access to AI to aid in patent prosecution.6565Tara Klamrowski, Top Five Ways Artificial Intelligence Can Improve Patent Prosecution (Feb. 2, 2017), http://knowledge.reedtech.com/all-ip-resources/top-five-ways-artificial-intelligence-can-improve-patent-prosecution [https://perma.cc/8QXV-G4NQ]. CLOSE For example, one online tool is LexisNexis PatentAdvisor; its marketing headline is, “[g]et to know your examiner better with more context and a deeper understanding of your examiner’s behavior than ever available before.”6666LexisNexis PatentAdvisor Two-Day Trial, LexisNexis, http://go.reedtech.com/lexisnexis-patentadvisor-free-two-day-trial [https://perma.cc/B65Y-EUPW]. CLOSE If this PatentAdvisor tool becomes so advanced so as to qualify as AGI, then the precedent of requiring AI to be listed as an inventor creates a strong argument for why the PatentAdvisor tool should be listed as a patent agent or attorney on an application.

Proponents’ continual fight for AI’s rights will only further the backlog problem of the USPTO. If the USPTO does not properly plan for AI-driven innovation and the resulting glut of patent applications, then there will be paralyzing effects and severe repercussions for the U.S. and world economy.