The USPTO wasn’t buying it. The agency noted that US patent law uses pronouns and language such as “whoever” to refer to inventors. It wrote that “only natural persons may be named as an inventor in a patent application” as the law stands. The UK Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office previously rejected AIP applications on similar grounds, despite their belief that the devices were patent-worthy.

There was no suggestion, however, that DABUS itself might obtain any patents. Thaler himself was the applicant. “Machines should not own patents,” the AIP says on its website. “They do not have legal personality or independent rights, and cannot own property.”