Patent Infringement by Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems, Specifically Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

Patent law is increasingly challenged by the growing dissemination and use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Issues such as the patentability of AI systems or the consequences of the use of AI for the definition of the person skilled in the art and the inventive step have been discussed in the literature, and first decisions in different jurisdictions concerned the patentability of inventions developed by AI systems and the related question of a requirement of a human inventor. In contrast, the following contribution focuses on a field that has received little attention so far, namely patent infringement by development and use of AI systems, specifically artificial neural networks. After a brief introduction (see Sect. 1) and overview (see Sect. 2), different approaches to define artificial intelligence in the context of patent law will be presented (see Sect. 3) before possible acts of infringement are considered in detail (see Sect. 4) and the attribution of ‘autonomous’ acts of infringement by AI systems (see Sect. 5) and the question of fault (see Sect. 6) are discussed. A final conclusion (see Sect. 7) summarises the results.