Pharmaceutical companies using AI in drug development are encountering issues with registering their products, as U.S. law requires inventors listed in applications to be human. This was highlighted by MIT Technology Review.
The publication cites Insilico Medicine as an example. The company claimed its generative AI platform created a potentially effective compound against pulmonary fibrosis. The patent application did not mention AI; instead, five individuals, including the company’s CEO Alex Zhavoronkov, were listed as inventors.
This approach aligns with U.S. court practices. In 2022, a Washington appeals court in the DABUS case confirmed that only a human can be considered an inventor under the law.
The case involved an improved food container designed by AI. According to court documents, the term “individual” in U.S. regulations refers to a human being.
As a result, patent disputes focus on specifics. The key issue is not AI’s involvement per se, but the sufficiency of human contribution. Ryan Abbott, a partner at Brown, Neri, Smith & Khan, suggested that over time, AI-related patents might face widespread challenges if errors in documentation are revealed.
“If I asked Claude to cure cancer and he did? I think it would be inappropriate to claim that as my achievement,” the lawyer noted.
According to MIT Technology Review, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office initially issued guidelines on when a person could be considered a co-inventor when using AI. After Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the agency began treating AI as “a tool like a calculator that does not need to be separately disclosed in an application.”
Sarah Corman, Chief Legal Officer and Director of Development at Isomorphic Labs, believes that as AI’s role grows, existing laws will need to be revised. For now, companies ensure a human is involved in the development chain, documenting their participation in the synthesis, modification, and testing of molecules.
Earlier, in July, it was reported that AI startup Anthropic launched an environment for scientists called Claude Science and announced plans to develop treatments for “advanced” diseases.
