The idea that anyone could argue that a patent is invalid because the invention was described to ChatGPT "sounds like a far-fetched scenario, but it's actually a lot more likely than you might think," said Adam Thompson in a recent interview with Law360.
The artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT can generate anything from song lyrics to something resembling a patent application. However, many attorneys share the myriad of reasons to be wary of using the new technology tool in patent drafting. If the confidentiality issue is addressed, the AI would likely be well-suited to creating a written description for the patent application outlining what has been invented based on claims drafted by the attorney, "because it has your view of the invention as its seed to generate the output," Thompson said.
Thompson indicated that a future patent-specific AI tool could be useful for tasks such as helping applicants determine if there are continuation applications they could seek on new claims based on the written description in an earlier patent, and responding to rejections from patent examiners saying the written description of the invention supports the claims.
Given the nuances of language, it might be challenging for AI to analyze how claims in an application compare to prior art inventions, but "I'm amazed with ChatGPT, so who knows what the future holds," Thompson said.
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