New Inventorship Guidance on AI-Assisted Inventions: AI Can't Be an Inventor, But AI Can Be a Tool in the Inventive Process (For Now...)

"By way of background, the February 2024 Guidance analyzed the naming of inventors for AI-assisted inventions using the Pannu factors, which state that an inventor must (1) contribute in some significant manner to the conception or reduction to practice of an invention, (2) make a contribution to the claimed invention that is not insignificant in quality when measured against the full invention, and (3) do more than merely explain well-known concepts and/or the current state of the art."

"Use of an AI system in creating an AI-assisted invention does not categorically negate the natural person's contributions as an inventor, if the natural person "contributes significantly" to the invention. Providing a recognized problem or a general goal or research plan to an AI system does not rise to the level of conception. Reduction of the output of an AI system to practice alone is not a significant contribution that rises to the level of inventorship."

"As readers may recall, in February 2024, the USPTO issued guidance on inventorship in AI-assisted inventions, which we wrote about here. On November 26, 2025, the USPTO rescinded that guidance and replaced it with new guidance. The November 2025 Guidance withdraws the analysis of the Pannu factors, indicating that the Pannu factors only apply when determining when multiple natural persons qualify as inventors."

The February 2024 Guidance applied the Pannu factors to determine inventorship for AI-assisted inventions, requiring significant contribution to conception or reduction to practice, non-insignificant quality relative to the full invention, and more than reiteration of known concepts. The February guidance clarified that merely providing a problem or goal to an AI, or merely reducing AI output to practice, does not constitute conception or inventorship, while designing or training an AI for a specific problem could. On November 26, 2025, the USPTO withdrew the Pannu-factor analysis and emphasized that the same inventorship legal standard applies regardless of AI use, limiting Pannu to multi-person inventor apportionment.

Read at Global IP & Technology Law Blog