By- Dr. Gaurav, (Assistant Professor of Law) & Waseem Khaliq (Research Scholar), Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Abstract
With the enormous increase in Generative AI systems, the world has witnessed a remarkable shift from human-centred development to AI-flooded technological advancement. Innovators are investing a huge amount in R&D to produce AI-generated inventions, to incentivize their intellectual acumen and secure exclusive IP rights over the outputs. Artificial intelligence (AI) has a direct bearing on reshaping contemporary innovation. As AI can be used to create unlimited works with intellectual tendencies, it becomes very unclear as to who owns the works created by using AI. Thus posing significant challenges to the traditional patent regime, which is grounded on assumptions of human inventorship and creative agency. In India, the Patents Act, 1970, operates within a human-centric framework and fails to protect the inventions created by autonomous AI systems. This gap has created uncertainty regarding inventorship, ownership, patent eligibility, and disclosure.
The current study undertakes a doctrinal and comparative examination of the Indian patent regime to accommodate AI-driven innovation. The study critically examines the judicial decisions, administrative guidelines, and global standards in addressing the questions around AI as an inventor. It tries to highlight the limitations of the existing traditional IP regime in addressing the distinctive features of artificial intelligence. It argues that the core patent law requirements, including inventorship, novelty, inventive step, and disclosure, become increasingly difficult to interpret where inventive outputs are produced with minimal or no direct human involvement. In the Indian context, the legal position remains uncertain due to the absence of explicit statutory provisions addressing the patentability of AI-generated inventions. It concludes that a reformation of existing patent law or a sui-generis mechanism is required to ensure that the Indian patent landscape remains responsive in an era of artificial intelligence-led innovation.
Key Words: AI and Patent Framework, Inventorship, AI-Generated Inventions, Legal Personality
Of AI, Sui-generis, Computer-Related Invention (CRI)
INTRODUCTION
The intellectual acumen of human beings is acknowledged, endorsed, and protected by certain rights like the Trade Mark, Patent, Copyright, etc. These rights are conferred on the original works, creations or inventions which reflect the human efforts. The reward of IP protection has always proved to be an encouraging factor for inventors to invest time, effort, and huge money in R&D for the creation of new inventions. Any unauthorized interference with such rights is strictly dealt with under the specific laws by penal as well as compensatory remedial measures.
However, the growth of AI-driven innovation has put the traditional IP laws at standstill. The rapid development of AI has posed some serious questions to the existing IP Regime regarding the ownership and control of works and inventions generated through algorithmic and autonomous processes. As AI can be used to create unlimited works having intellectual tendencies, it becomes unclear as to who owns the works created by using AI. Can AI-generated works be assigned to the original owner of such AI or exclusively to the AI itself without any credit to the original inventor i.e. The Natural Person? In the second case, there arises another challenge: how can an AI be given A Copyright, patent, or trademark right in the present legal setup where only human beings are considered to create or invent anything capable of IP protection, and AI can thus be viewed itself not as a creator but a creation. The rise of AI and AI-generated inventions has severely affected this assumption and exposed a visible dichotomy between the two.
These inevitable questions have needed a re-evaluation of the compatibility between emerging technologies and existing intellectual property frameworks. Advancements in data-driven fields such as machine learning and artificial intelligence show both great potential for societal benefit and immense conflict with the current IP system. Where AI systems are capable of producing novel outputs with minimal or no human intervention, it becomes unclear whether such outputs should be attributed to the human creator of the AI, or the AI itself. Recent trends show that around 86,000 patent applications for AI inventions were filed with the Indian Patent Office between 2010 and 2025. But the patent grant is around 0.37%. Which is significantly low when compared with China’s 69.7 % and the USA’s 14.2%. These numbers depict the rigidity of the traditional patent system in adopting the changing innovation trends.
Further potential challenges may likely arise regarding the patent term and applicability for AI-generated inventions. If the ownership were to vest in AI itself, questions on the duration of rights, transferability, and public domain status would again come into the picture. Since AI is itself a creation of human intellect and can be protected for a limited period, the status of its creations after the expiry of its own protection again presents a complex legal challenge.
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