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20 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 1 (2021-2022)

handle is hein.journals/dltr20 and id is 1 raw text is: HOMOGRAPHY OF INVENTORSHIP: DABUS AND VALUING INVENTORS JoRDANA (JORDi) GooDMAN* ABSTRACT On July 28, 2021, the Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience (DAB US) became the first computer to be recognized as a patent inventor. Due to the advocacy of DABUS's inventor, Dr. Stephen Thaler, the world's definition of inventor has finally fractured - dividing patent regimes between recognition of machine inventorship and lack thereof This division has sparked many scholarly conversations about inventorship contribution, but none have discussed the implications of a homographic inventorship. This Article addresses the implications of international homographic inventorship - where countries have different notions and rules concerning patent inventorship - and the consequences for failing to understand the divergences that could result in patent invalidation. This Article adds to the literature by addressing Thaler's tireless inventorship advocacy, highlighting that Thaler uses his position ofprivilege to argue for inventorship acknowledgement ofhis machine and simultaneously to relinquish his own inventorship recognition. To emphasize, there is no existing caselaw except the DABUS case where a potential inventor has argued for the acknowledgement of another inventor and simultaneously relinquished their own recognition - whether that unacknowledged inventor was human or not human. Thaler's advocacy amplifies the need for continued conversation regarding closing the patent inventorship gap for women and underrepresented minorities of color, who are too often tokenized and marginalized in STEM and in the patent process. By bringing the definition of inventor to the forefront, the DAB US case represents more than just a case of Al inventorship: it is a potential gateway to provide language and arguments to * Jordana Goodman is a Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor at the BU/MIT Technology Law Clinic at Boston University School of Law. You can reach her at jordi@bu.edu. Jordana would like to thank Shira Megerman and the highly supportive librarians at Boston University School of Law, who helped her research this Article. She would also like to thank Gary Lawson, Darryl Walton, Michael Meurer, and many others who supported her on the journey to publication.