Japan's Supreme Court rules AI cannot be listed as inventor on patents, dismisses American engineer's appeal after he tried to name DABUS artificial intelligence as inventor on 2020 food container application; lower courts ruled Patent Law restricts inventors to natural persons only.

AI Can’t Be Listed as Inventor on Patent Applications, Japan’s Top Court Rules

Yomiuri Shimbun file photoThe Supreme Court 15:41 JST, March 6, 2026 The Supreme Court has dismissed an American engineer’s appeal to have artificial intelligence named as the inventor on a patent application. The engineer had claimed the Patent Office’s rejection of the application was illegal. But in a decision dated Wednesday, the court’s Second Petty Bench turned down the engineer’s request to have the rejection overturned. The top court’s decision finalized the rulings of the Tokyo District...