USPTO Revised Guidance on AI-Assisted Inventions

The USPTO has issued updated inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions, superseding prior guidance and streamlining the standards that apply to patent applications involving AI tools.

AI-assisted inventions are subject to the same inventorship standards as all other inventions. AI is considered a tool, not an inventor; and human conception continues to be the legal cornerstone of patentability.

Key provisions include:

• No AI Inventorship: AI systems cannot be named as inventors or joint inventors, regardless of their role in the development process.

• Human Conception Required: At least one natural person must have conceived the invention, meaning a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative invention.

• Uniform Simplified Standards: The previous "Pannu factors" framework has been eliminated in favor of a single, consistent standard applicable to all inventions.

• International Considerations: The USPTO will not recognize priority claims from foreign applications naming an AI as the sole inventor.

What This Means for Your IP Strategy

As AI becomes further embedded in R&D workflows, the line between human conception and AI generation will face increasing scrutiny. Companies should revisit innovation documentation practices now, before a patent is challenged, ensuring human contributions are clearly and contemporaneously recorded. Inventors must be prepared to demonstrate more than recognizing a problem or supplying general goals to an AI system; meaningful engagement with and refinement of AI outputs is required across utility, design, and plant patents alike. Working with IP counsel experienced in both the technology and the evolving legal landscape is essential to building a defensible inventorship record.
 

USPTO Also Deploying AI in Trademark Processing

On the trademark side, the USPTO has announced "Class ACT" (Trademark Classification Agentic Codification Tool), an AI agent designed to handle trademark application pre-processing. The tool automatically assigns international classes, design search codes, and pseudo marks to unclassified applications. These tasks that historically took up to five months now take minutes. Human examiners continue to review the AI's work before it becomes operative, but the speed improvements to classification and searchability are immediate. While Class ACT is an internal USPTO tool rather than a change in trademark law, faster pre-processing will mean quicker movement through the examination pipeline.

As put by officials with USPTO to assuage the public of these changes, "Good news for brand owners and applicants! If you have questions about any of these changes and how they may affect your filings, please don't hesitate to contact us."