For years, the debate surrounding artificial intelligence and patents has focused on a relatively simple question: Can AI be an inventor?
At least in the United States, the answer is currently no. Inventors must be natural persons.
Problem solved. Or perhaps not.
While lawyers, courts, and the USPTO have spent the past several years debating
Seyfarth’s 2026 Commercial Litigation Outlook reinforces a key reality for IP practitioners: artificial intelligence is not just driving innovation—it is fundamentally reshaping how intellectual property is created, protected, and challenged. This year, Seyfarth’s Intellectual Property team contributed insights focused on the growing risks to trade secrets, ownership rights, and proprietary information in an AI-driven environment.
Patent attorneys spend a lot of time explaining two deceptively simple concepts: novelty and obviousness. Both rise and fall on one thing: prior art. Most inventors assume prior art means a patent or some obscure technical paper written by someone surviving on cold brew and conference coffee.
That assumption is wrong.
Prior art is anything
Artificial intelligence may be global, but patent eligibility remains stubbornly local. A recent decision out of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom seems to have nudged UK practice for computer-implemented inventions closer to the approach historically taken by the European Patent Office. The decision lowers the threshold for exclusion from patentability, reducing the likelihood
As the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots meet again on football’s biggest stage, the rematch inevitably pulls everyone back to one moment. Different rosters. Different seasons. Same unresolved question. With a championship on the line, memories of the one-yard line come rushing back, not because the teams are the same, but because the
Every year has its “it” term.
In 2025, the crown belonged to AI, and rightfully so. AI dominated the headlines, flooded the USPTO’s dockets, and triggered more §101 rejections than any examiner would care to admit. If you worked in tech, you had to talk about AI. If you worked in patent law, you likely
Thanksgiving is finally here, which means the turkey gets its annual moment in the spotlight. For 364 days a year, the turkey is just trying to fit in. It was forced to take on roles it never auditioned for. Turkey bacon. Turkey sausage. Turkey pastrami. Turkey pepperoni on pizza that never asked for it. All
Another day, another change at the USPTO.
If you have ever filed a patent application, you know there is a section that asks for your entity status: Large, Small, or Micro. If you have ever asked yourself whether size matters, the answer is now officially yes.
On October 24, 2025, the Office of the Assistant
Growing up, my mom had a rule: you have to make your own Halloween costume from whatever we had at home. This worked fine until the year I wanted to be He-Man. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use household items to harness the power of Grayskull. Eventually, my mom gave in and bought the costume. I’m still
Another day and another change at the USPTO. On October 8, the USPTO announced an Artificial Intelligence Pilot Program for pre-examination searches. Last week, on October 24, the USPTO followed with the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program aimed at accelerating examination through simplified claim structures. Together, these initiatives reflect Director John Squires’ drive to modernize