| Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court |
| Miscellaneous Appeal – Civil 33353-05-23 Thaler v. Registrar of Patents, Designs and Trademarks
31 December 2025 |
| Before | The Honorable Judge Tamar Avrahami
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Appellant |
Dr. Stephen L. Thaler By Adv. Asa Kling [Naschitz Brandes Amir & Co.] and Adv. Dr. Reuven K. Muallem [FlashPointIP Office] |
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Against |
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Respondent |
Registrar of Patents, Designs and Trademarks By Attorney Ginat Ariel Kaczko [Tel Aviv Civil District Attorney’s Office] |
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| Judgment
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- Is it possible to recognize a machine based on artificial intelligence according to the patent law in Israel?Artificial Intelligence; AI) as the "inventor(e)" of an invention entitled to patent protection?
The Registrar of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (at the time, Mr. Ofir Alon; The Registrar of Patents or the Registrar) answered this question in the negative, and rejected an objection to the decision of a patent examiner (the examiner). Two patent applications filed by the appellant were refused for registration. This appeal was filed before me.
All references in this judgment to pages and lines are references to the minutes of the hearing of the appeal, unless otherwise stated or implied. The references to /__ and "resh/__ mean references to the appendices to the appeal or to the attachments to the respondent's response, accordingly.
Normative Framework - General
- Section 2 The Patents Law, 5727-1967 (Patent Law or The Law) states:
"The owner of an invention as a patent is entitled to request, in accordance with the provisions of this law, that he be granted a patent for it."
The person who is entitled to apply for a patent is therefore an "invention owner".
- The term "owner of an invention" is defined in the law, in the definitions section (section 1), like this:
"'Owner of an invention' – the inventor himself or those who come by virtue of him, and they are the person who is entitled to the invention by virtue of the law or by transfer or by agreement."
- The term "inventor" is not defined in the Patent Law.
- Unlike other places in the world, Israeli law does not require the patent applicant to mention the name of the inventor. At the same time, the law relates to a case in which the applicant is not the inventor himself, and states that this must be reflected in the patent application: in accordance with the provisions Section 11(b) To the law:
"If the applicant was a person who is not the inventor, he should please inform the owner of the invention."