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Brazil: AI Authorship and the curious case of Bill 303/2024
By Rafaela Borges Carneiro and Cândida Ribeiro Caffé, partners at Dannemann Siemsen
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, including innovation and intellectual property (IP). As AI systems increasingly generate creative works and inventions autonomously or with minimal human input, they challenge traditional IP laws.
At the heart of the debate is the question of authorship and inventorship for AI-generated creations. Traditional IP frameworks assume a human creator behind every invention or creative work. This human-centric approach raises complex issues when an AI system produces something new without direct human involvement. This paper explores Brazil's legal landscape regarding the authorship of AI-created inventions and highlights legislative responses to this emerging challenge.
In Brazil, the main current legislative project on AI is Bill 2338/23, which regulates the use of Artificial Intelligence. Its goals are to establish foundational principles for AI development and use, promote innovation while ensuring ethical standards and create a regulatory environment that balances technological advancement with the protection of individual rights, including privacy and data protection.
The bill emphasizes transparency in AI algorithms, accountability for AI decisions, and encourages investment in AI research and development to enhance Brazil's global competitiveness. As of November 30, 2021, the bill was sent to the Senate and is awaiting discussion and vote.
Specifically addressing AI and intellectual property, on February 20, 2024, a new bill was introduced in the Brazilian Congress aiming to recognize an AI system as an inventor. Bill (PL) 303/2024 proposes amending the Industrial Property Law (Law No. 9,279/1996) by adding to Article 6 the following provision: "In case of inventions autonomously generated by an artificial intelligence system, the patent may be applied for in the name of the artificial intelligence system that created the invention, which can be considered the inventor and holder of the rights inherent to the invention."
The author of this proposal cited the AI DABUS case developed by Stephen Thaler, who filed patent applications in Brazil and several other countries listing the AI as the inventor. Although his applications were dismissed, they sparked global discussions about recognizing AI as an inventor.
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