The innovation in question involves interlocking food containers that are easy for robots to grasp and stack.
On closer inspection, the patent is anything but mundane.
The system simulates human brainstorming and creates new inventions.
This differs from everyday AI like Siri, the voice of Apples iPhones.
South Africas decision has received widespread backlash from intellectual property experts.
Some have labeled it amistake, or anoversightby the patent office.
This has aimed to increase innovation and views technology as a way to achieve this.
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This process is known as machine learning.
Once the machine learning phase has occurred, the machine is able to autonomously create without human intervention.
Over the years there have been many kinds of creativity machines.
However, Thaler listed himself, rather than the AI, as the inventor at that time.
This was the start of their push for AI to be recognized as inventors the world over.
TheUnited States Patent and Trademark Officeand theEuropean Patent Officerejected these applications in the formal examination phase.
They gave three reasons.
Finally, inventorship comes with rights, which AI is not legally capable of possessing.
It has not yet explained its reasons for doing so.
The granting of the DABUS patent in South Africa has received widespread backlash from intellectual property experts.
The first relevant policy was theIntellectual Property Policy of the Republic of South Africa Phase I of 2018.
It marked the beginning of patent reform in the country.
Given the policy environment and the vast potential of AI, the granting of the patent makes sense.
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
