The Federal Circuit held that the Patent Act's word 'individual' means a human being, so an AI system called DABUS cannot be listed as an inventor — without deciding whether AI-assisted inventions are patentable at all.
The Federal Circuit set out the durable standard for joint inventorship and confirmed that misjoinder or nonjoinder is curable under Section 256 unless the patentee acted with deceptive intent.
A co-inventor of even a single claim becomes a co-owner of the whole patent — and the Federal Circuit let that overlooked inventor license the accused infringer and dismantle the case.
The Supreme Court held that the Bayh-Dole Act does not automatically vest patent rights in a federally funded university — title still begins with the inventor, and a stray 'do hereby assign' can send it elsewhere.
