USPTO AI Inventorship: Notice of Public AI Inventorship Listening Session-West Coast, 23408-23410 [2023-07953]

Download as PDF 23408 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 73 / Monday, April 17, 2023 / Notices Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. The NOFO requires award recipients to submit a Baseline Report 45 days after grant award. Award recipients must follow the reporting requirements described in Section A.01 Report Requirement of the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions (dated November 12, 2020). Additionally, in accordance with 2 CFR part 170, all recipients of a federal award made on or after October 1, 2010, must comply with reporting requirements under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–282). NTIA will use the information collected from each award recipient to effectively administer and monitor the grant program to ensure the achievement of the Innovation Fund purposes and account for the expenditure of federal funds to deter waste, fraud, and abuse. II. Method of Collection lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund The Baseline Report is a one-time collection of information from award recipients covering project plans and details about key outputs and outcomes that will be due within 45 days of the issuance of the award. NTIA will collect data through an electronic submission. III. Data OMB Control Number: 0660–XXXX. Form Number(s): None. Type of Review: Regular submission for new information collection. Affected Public: Grant award recipients consisting of for-profit companies, non-profit companies, institutions of higher education, industry groups, and consortia including two or more such entities. Estimated Number of Respondents: 30. Estimated Time per Response: 20. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 600. Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $28,638. Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. Legal Authority: Section 9202(a)(1) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116–283, 134 Stat. 3388 (Jan. 1, 2021) (FY21 NDAA) and Div. A., Section 106 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, Public Law 117–167, 136 Stat. 1392 (Aug. 9, 2022). IV. Request for Comments We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department to: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:57 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 259001 (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility. (b) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used. (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected. (d) Minimize the reporting burden on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Sheleen Dumas, Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Commerce Department. [FR Doc. 2023–08011 Filed 4–14–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–60–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Patent and Trademark Office [Docket No.: PTO–P–2022–0045] USPTO AI Inventorship: Notice of Public AI Inventorship Listening Session—West Coast United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of public listening session. AGENCY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plays an important role in incentivizing and protecting innovation, including innovation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI and other emerging technologies (ET). On February 14, 2023, the USPTO published a Federal Register Notice requesting comments regarding AI and SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Inventorship. The USPTO is announcing a public listening session on May 8, 2023, titled ‘‘AI Inventorship Listening Session.’’ The purpose of the listening session is to seek stakeholder input on the current state of AI technologies and inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of such technologies, as set forth in the questions posed in the Federal Register Notice of February 14, 2023. DATES: The AI Inventorship Listening Session will be held on May 8, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET). Anyone seeking to attend inperson or speak, in-person or virtually, at the listening session must register by 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) on May 2, 2023. Anyone seeking to attend virtually at the listening session must register by 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) May 7, 2023. Seating is limited for in-person attendance. ADDRESSES: The public AI Inventorship Listening Session will take place virtually and inperson at Stanford University, Paul Brest Hall, 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, CA 94305. All major entrances to the building are accessible to people with disabilities. Registration is required for both virtual and in person attendance. Information on registration is available at https://www.uspto.gov/ initiatives/artificial-intelligence/ai-andemerging-technology-partnershipengagement-and-events. Registrants must indicate whether they are registering as a listen-only attendee or as a speaker participant. More information about requests to participate as a speaker is provided below. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aleksandr Kerzhner, Supervisory Patent Examiner, 571–270–1760 or Srilakshmi Kumar, Supervisory Patent Examiner, 571–272–7769. You can also send inquiries to AIPartnership@uspto.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background In June 2022, the USPTO announced the formation of the AI/ET Partnership, which provides an opportunity to bring stakeholders together through a series of engagements to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insights on the intersection of intellectual property and AI/ET. To build on the AI/ET Partnership efforts, in February 2023, the USPTO issued a Federal Register Notice titled ‘‘Request for Comments Regarding Artificial Intelligence and Inventorship,’’ 88 FR 9492 (February 14, 2023) (available at https:// www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 2023/02/14/2023-03066/request-for- E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM 17APN1 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 73 / Monday, April 17, 2023 / Notices lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 comments-regarding-artificialintelligence-and-inventorship). The AI Inventorship Request for Comments (RFC) posed 11 questions for public comment on the current state of AI technologies and inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of such technologies, especially as AI plays a greater role in the innovation process. As indicated by the AI Inventorship RFC, the USPTO will hold stakeholder engagement sessions that will be announced in the Federal Register and posted on the AI/ ET Partnership web page at https:// www.uspto.gov/aipartnership. The USPTO is announcing the second of these stakeholder engagement sessions through this notice. II. Public Listening Session The USPTO will hold a public listening session on May 8, 2023 at Stanford University, Paul Brest Hall, 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, CA 94305. The listening session will be held virtually and in person from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET). For registration, please visit https:// www.uspto.gov/initiatives/artificialintelligence/ai-and-emergingtechnology-partnership-engagementand-events. Registrants must indicate whether they are registering as a listenonly attendee or as a speaker participant. Requests to participate as a speaker must include: 1. The name of the person desiring to participate; 2. The organization(s) that person represents, if any; 3. Contact information (zip code, telephone number, and email address); 4. Information on the specific topic(s) or question(s) from the RFC of interest to the speaker (or their organization); and 5. Full text of comments to be articulated during the listening session (discussed further below). Speaking slots are limited, preference will be given to speakers based on the specific topic or question(s) provided in the request to participate. Selected speakers may be grouped by topic. Topics and speakers will be announced a few days prior to the event and listening session. Speakers may attend virtually or in person and are required to submit their remarks for the listening session in advance through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https:// www.regulations.gov. We will inform each speaker in advance of their assigned time slot. Time slots will be at least three minutes but may be longer, depending on the number of speakers registered. USPTO personnel may VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:57 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 259001 reserve time to ask questions of particular speakers after the delivery of a speaker’s remarks. The listening session will be physically accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals requiring accommodation, such as sign language interpretation or other ancillary aids, should communicate their needs to Sheila Sanchez at disability.access@ stanford.edu as soon as possible or at least seven (7) business days prior to the listening session. III. Questions From the AI Inventorship RFC for Discussion at Listening Session The purpose of the listening session is to obtain public input from a broad group of stakeholders on the current state of AI technologies and inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of such technologies, as set forth in the questions presented in the Federal Register Notice titled ‘‘Request for Comments Regarding Artificial Intelligence and Inventorship,’’ 88 FR 9492 (February 14, 2023) (available at https://www.federalregister.gov/ documents/2023/02/14/2023-03066/ request-for-comments-regardingartificial-intelligence-and-inventorship). We encourage interested speakers to address the questions posed in the AI Inventorship RFC and to submit research and data that explain their comments on these questions. Official written comments to the questions raised in the AI Inventorship RFC should be submitted as outlined in the AI Inventorship RFC. For convenience, a list of the AI Inventorship RFC questions is provided below in their entirety. 1. How is AI, including machine learning, currently being used in the invention creation process? Please provide specific examples. Are any of these contributions significant enough to rise to the level of a joint inventor if they were contributed by a human? 2. How does the use of an AI system in the invention creation process differ from the use of other technical tools? 3. If an AI system contributes to an invention at the same level as a human who would be considered a joint inventor, is the invention patentable under current patent laws? For example: a. Could 35 U.S.C. 101 and 115 be interpreted such that the Patent Act only requires the listing of the natural person(s) who invent(s), such that inventions with additional inventive contributions from an AI system can be patented as long as the AI system is not listed as an inventor? b. Does the current jurisprudence on inventorship and joint inventorship, PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 23409 including the requirement of conception, support the position that only the listing of the natural person(s) who invent(s) is required, such that inventions with additional inventive contributions from an AI system can be patented as long as the AI system is not listed as an inventor? c. Does the number of human inventors impact the answer to the questions above? 4. Do inventions in which an AI system contributed at the same level as a joint inventor raise any significant ownership issues? For example: a. Do ownership rights vest solely in the natural person(s) who invented or do those who create, train, maintain, or own the AI system have ownership rights as well? What about those whose information was used to train the AI system? b. Are there situations in which AIgenerated contributions are not owned by any entity and therefore part of the public domain? 5. Is there a need for the USPTO to expand its current guidance on inventorship to address situations in which AI significantly contributes to an invention? How should the significance of a contribution be assessed? 6. Should the USPTO require applicants to provide an explanation of contributions AI systems made to inventions claimed in patent applications? If so, how should that be implemented, and what level of contributions should be disclosed? Should contributions to inventions made by AI systems be treated differently from contributions made by other (i.e., non-AI) computer systems? 7. What additional steps, if any, should the USPTO take to further incentivize AI-enabled innovation (i.e., innovation in which machine learning or other computational techniques play a significant role in the invention creation process)? 8. What additional steps, if any, should the USPTO take to mitigate harms and risks from AI-enabled innovation? In what ways could the USPTO promote the best practices outlined in the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights 1 and the AI Risk Management Framework 2 within the innovation ecosystem? 9. What statutory changes, if any, should be considered as to U.S. inventorship law, and what consequences do you foresee for those statutory changes? For example: 1 See https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-ofrights/. 2 See https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-riskmanagement-framework. E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM 17APN1 23410 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 73 / Monday, April 17, 2023 / Notices a. Should AI systems be made eligible to be listed as an inventor? Does allowing AI systems to be listed as an inventor promote and incentivize innovation? b. Should listing an inventor remain a requirement for a U.S. patent? 10. Are there any laws or practices in other countries that effectively address inventorship for inventions with significant contributions from AI systems? 11. The USPTO plans to continue engaging with stakeholders on the intersection of AI and intellectual property. What areas of focus (e.g., obviousness, disclosure, data protection) should the USPTO prioritize in future engagements? Katherine K. Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [FR Doc. 2023–07953 Filed 4–14–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–16–P I. Background Commission Agenda and Priorities; Notice of Hearing U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Notice of public hearing. AGENCY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) will conduct a public hearing to receive views from interested parties about the Commission’s agenda and priorities for fiscal year 2024, which begins on October 1, 2023, and for fiscal year 2025, which begins on October 1, 2024. We invite members of the public to participate. DATES: The hybrid hearing will be held in person at CPSC’s headquarters and remotely via webinar on May 10, 2023, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). ADDRESSES: This year’s hearing will be held as a hybrid meeting—in person at CPSC’s headquarters and remotely via webinar. For individuals attending in person, the meeting will be held at CPSC’s headquarters, located at 4330 East West Highway, 4th Floor—Hearing Room, Bethesda, MD 20814. Individuals who plan to attend the meeting remotely should pre-register for the webinar at https://cpsc.webex.com/weblink/ register/rba37185ac315e7e0 cf5666a1960c4028. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. In person attendees do not lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:57 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 259001 For information about the hearing, or to request an opportunity to make an oral presentation, whether in person or remotely, please send an email to Elaine Niedzwiecki, the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, at eniedzwiecki@cpsc.gov: telephone (301) 504–7666. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION SUMMARY: need to register for the hearing. Requests to make oral presentations (in person or remotely) and the text of oral presentations and written comments should be sent by email to: cpsc-os@ cpsc.gov, with the subject line, ‘‘Agenda and Priorities FY 2024 and/or 2025.’’ Requests to make oral presentations—in person or remotely—and the written text of any oral presentations must be received by the Office of the Secretary not later than 5 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2023. The Commission will accept written comments as well. These also must be received by the Office of the Secretary not later than 5 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2023. Section 4(j) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) (15 U.S.C. 2053(j)) requires the Commission to establish an agenda for action under the laws the Commission administers, and to the extent feasible, select priorities for action at least 30 days before the beginning of each fiscal year. Section 4(j) of the CPSA provides further that when establishing its agenda and priorities, the Commission shall conduct a public hearing and provide an opportunity for the submission of comments. II. Registration for Remote Attendees The hybrid public hearing will be held on May 10, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EDT in person at CPSC’s headquarters and remotely via CPSC Webinar.1 All attendees who plan on joining remotely should pre-register for the Webinar by visiting https://cpsc.webex.com/ weblink/register/rba37185ac315e7e0 cf5666a1960c4028 and filling in the information. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Detailed instructions for hearing participants and other interested parties will be made available on the CPSC website on the public calendar: https:// www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/PublicCalendar. 1 The Commission voted 4–0 to approve publication of this notice. PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 III. Oral Presentations (Both in Person at CPSC’s Headquarters and Remotely via Webinar) and Submission of Written Comments The Commission is preparing the agency’s fiscal year 2024 Operating Plan and fiscal year 2025 Congressional Budget Request. Fiscal year 2024 begins on October 1, 2023, and fiscal year 2025 begins on October 1, 2024. Through this notice, the Commission invites the public to comment on the Commission’s agenda and priorities that will be established in the fiscal year 2024 Operating Plan and the fiscal year 2025 Congressional Budget. Proposed priorities should be aligned with the agency’s Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2023–2026, which is available at: www.cpsc.gov/about-cpsc/agencyreports/performance-and-budget. Persons who desire to make oral presentations at the hearing on May 10, 2023—in person or remotely—should send an email to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at cpsc-os@cpsc.gov not later than 5 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2023. Texts of intended oral presentations should be captioned ‘‘Agenda and Priorities FY 2024, and/or 2025’’ and must be received not later than 5 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2023. Oral presentations—in person or remotely— should be limited to approximately 10 minutes. The Commission reserves the right to impose further time limitations or other restrictions on presentations. If you do not want to make an oral presentation, but would like to provide written comments, you may do so. Written comments should be captioned, ‘‘Agenda and Priorities FY 2024 and/or 2025,’’ and sent to Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at cpsc-os@cpsc.gov not later than 5 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2023. There is no length restriction for written comments. Alberta E. Mills, Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. [FR Doc. 2023–07988 Filed 4–14–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6355–01–P DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Air Force [Docket ID USAF–2023–HQ–0006] Proposed Collection; Comment Request Department of the Air Force, Department of Defense (DoD). AGENCY: E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM 17APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23408-23410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07953]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-P-2022-0045]


USPTO AI Inventorship: Notice of Public AI Inventorship Listening 
Session--West Coast

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public listening session.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plays an 
important role in incentivizing and protecting innovation, including 
innovation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure continued 
U.S. leadership in AI and other emerging technologies (ET). On February 
14, 2023, the USPTO published a Federal Register Notice requesting 
comments regarding AI and Inventorship. The USPTO is announcing a 
public listening session on May 8, 2023, titled ``AI Inventorship 
Listening Session.'' The purpose of the listening session is to seek 
stakeholder input on the current state of AI technologies and 
inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of such 
technologies, as set forth in the questions posed in the Federal 
Register Notice of February 14, 2023.

DATES: The AI Inventorship Listening Session will be held on May 8, 
2023, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET). Anyone seeking 
to attend in-person or speak, in-person or virtually, at the listening 
session must register by 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) on May 2, 2023. Anyone 
seeking to attend virtually at the listening session must register by 2 
p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) May 7, 2023. Seating is limited for in-person 
attendance.

ADDRESSES: 
    The public AI Inventorship Listening Session will take place 
virtually and in-person at Stanford University, Paul Brest Hall, 555 
Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, CA 94305. All major entrances to the 
building are accessible to people with disabilities. Registration is 
required for both virtual and in person attendance. Information on 
registration is available at https://www.uspto.gov/initiatives/artificial-intelligence/ai-and-emerging-technology-partnership-engagement-and-events. Registrants must indicate whether they are 
registering as a listen-only attendee or as a speaker participant. More 
information about requests to participate as a speaker is provided 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aleksandr Kerzhner, Supervisory Patent 
Examiner, 571-270-1760 or Srilakshmi Kumar, Supervisory Patent 
Examiner, 571-272-7769. You can also send inquiries to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In June 2022, the USPTO announced the formation of the AI/ET 
Partnership, which provides an opportunity to bring stakeholders 
together through a series of engagements to share ideas, feedback, 
experiences, and insights on the intersection of intellectual property 
and AI/ET. To build on the AI/ET Partnership efforts, in February 2023, 
the USPTO issued a Federal Register Notice titled ``Request for 
Comments Regarding Artificial Intelligence and Inventorship,'' 88 FR 
9492 (February 14, 2023) (available at https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2023/02/14/2023-03066/request-for-

[[Page 23409]]

comments-regarding-artificial-intelligence-and-inventorship). The AI 
Inventorship Request for Comments (RFC) posed 11 questions for public 
comment on the current state of AI technologies and inventorship issues 
that may arise in view of the advancement of such technologies, 
especially as AI plays a greater role in the innovation process. As 
indicated by the AI Inventorship RFC, the USPTO will hold stakeholder 
engagement sessions that will be announced in the Federal Register and 
posted on the AI/ET Partnership web page at https://www.uspto.gov/aipartnership. The USPTO is announcing the second of these stakeholder 
engagement sessions through this notice.

II. Public Listening Session

    The USPTO will hold a public listening session on May 8, 2023 at 
Stanford University, Paul Brest Hall, 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, 
CA 94305. The listening session will be held virtually and in person 
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET). For registration, 
please visit https://www.uspto.gov/initiatives/artificial-intelligence/ai-and-emerging-technology-partnership-engagement-and-events. 
Registrants must indicate whether they are registering as a listen-only 
attendee or as a speaker participant.
    Requests to participate as a speaker must include:
    1. The name of the person desiring to participate;
    2. The organization(s) that person represents, if any;
    3. Contact information (zip code, telephone number, and email 
address);
    4. Information on the specific topic(s) or question(s) from the RFC 
of interest to the speaker (or their organization); and
    5. Full text of comments to be articulated during the listening 
session (discussed further below).
    Speaking slots are limited, preference will be given to speakers 
based on the specific topic or question(s) provided in the request to 
participate. Selected speakers may be grouped by topic. Topics and 
speakers will be announced a few days prior to the event and listening 
session. Speakers may attend virtually or in person and are required to 
submit their remarks for the listening session in advance through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. We will 
inform each speaker in advance of their assigned time slot. Time slots 
will be at least three minutes but may be longer, depending on the 
number of speakers registered. USPTO personnel may reserve time to ask 
questions of particular speakers after the delivery of a speaker's 
remarks.
    The listening session will be physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Individuals requiring accommodation, such as sign 
language interpretation or other ancillary aids, should communicate 
their needs to Sheila Sanchez at [email protected] as soon 
as possible or at least seven (7) business days prior to the listening 
session.

III. Questions From the AI Inventorship RFC for Discussion at Listening 
Session

    The purpose of the listening session is to obtain public input from 
a broad group of stakeholders on the current state of AI technologies 
and inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of 
such technologies, as set forth in the questions presented in the 
Federal Register Notice titled ``Request for Comments Regarding 
Artificial Intelligence and Inventorship,'' 88 FR 9492 (February 14, 
2023) (available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/14/2023-03066/request-for-comments-regarding-artificial-intelligence-and-inventorship).
    We encourage interested speakers to address the questions posed in 
the AI Inventorship RFC and to submit research and data that explain 
their comments on these questions. Official written comments to the 
questions raised in the AI Inventorship RFC should be submitted as 
outlined in the AI Inventorship RFC. For convenience, a list of the AI 
Inventorship RFC questions is provided below in their entirety.
    1. How is AI, including machine learning, currently being used in 
the invention creation process? Please provide specific examples. Are 
any of these contributions significant enough to rise to the level of a 
joint inventor if they were contributed by a human?
    2. How does the use of an AI system in the invention creation 
process differ from the use of other technical tools?
    3. If an AI system contributes to an invention at the same level as 
a human who would be considered a joint inventor, is the invention 
patentable under current patent laws? For example:
    a. Could 35 U.S.C. 101 and 115 be interpreted such that the Patent 
Act only requires the listing of the natural person(s) who invent(s), 
such that inventions with additional inventive contributions from an AI 
system can be patented as long as the AI system is not listed as an 
inventor?
    b. Does the current jurisprudence on inventorship and joint 
inventorship, including the requirement of conception, support the 
position that only the listing of the natural person(s) who invent(s) 
is required, such that inventions with additional inventive 
contributions from an AI system can be patented as long as the AI 
system is not listed as an inventor?
    c. Does the number of human inventors impact the answer to the 
questions above?
    4. Do inventions in which an AI system contributed at the same 
level as a joint inventor raise any significant ownership issues? For 
example:
    a. Do ownership rights vest solely in the natural person(s) who 
invented or do those who create, train, maintain, or own the AI system 
have ownership rights as well? What about those whose information was 
used to train the AI system?
    b. Are there situations in which AI-generated contributions are not 
owned by any entity and therefore part of the public domain?
    5. Is there a need for the USPTO to expand its current guidance on 
inventorship to address situations in which AI significantly 
contributes to an invention? How should the significance of a 
contribution be assessed?
    6. Should the USPTO require applicants to provide an explanation of 
contributions AI systems made to inventions claimed in patent 
applications? If so, how should that be implemented, and what level of 
contributions should be disclosed? Should contributions to inventions 
made by AI systems be treated differently from contributions made by 
other (i.e., non-AI) computer systems?
    7. What additional steps, if any, should the USPTO take to further 
incentivize AI-enabled innovation (i.e., innovation in which machine 
learning or other computational techniques play a significant role in 
the invention creation process)?
    8. What additional steps, if any, should the USPTO take to mitigate 
harms and risks from AI-enabled innovation? In what ways could the 
USPTO promote the best practices outlined in the Blueprint for an AI 
Bill of Rights \1\ and the AI Risk Management Framework \2\ within the 
innovation ecosystem?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/.
    \2\ See https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9. What statutory changes, if any, should be considered as to U.S. 
inventorship law, and what consequences do you foresee for those 
statutory changes? For example:

[[Page 23410]]

    a. Should AI systems be made eligible to be listed as an inventor? 
Does allowing AI systems to be listed as an inventor promote and 
incentivize innovation?
    b. Should listing an inventor remain a requirement for a U.S. 
patent?
    10. Are there any laws or practices in other countries that 
effectively address inventorship for inventions with significant 
contributions from AI systems?
    11. The USPTO plans to continue engaging with stakeholders on the 
intersection of AI and intellectual property. What areas of focus 
(e.g., obviousness, disclosure, data protection) should the USPTO 
prioritize in future engagements?

Katherine K. Vidal,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-07953 Filed 4-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
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