Artificial intelligence cannot be patented. That’s according to a federal judge in the US. The reason for the ruling is the question of a man who believes that his AI system is the rightful creator of some innovations.

The trial is a repeat of what already took place in the UK last June. Stephen Thaler went to court to get a patent for his Dabus AI system. This AI application would have designed, among other things, a food container and a flashlight.

In South Africa, the judge still spoke in favour of Thaler. In the UK, the court held that a machine cannot (yet) get a patent that way. Although the British patent office did leave an opening to make such a development possible in the future.

Now a judge in the US is letting know that they too believe that it can not be done, according to Bloomberg. Formally, It is about the term “individual” in US law that, according to the court, refers to people. This means that Dabus cannot claim a patent. Thaler’s lawyer says he wants to appeal the decision. The judge would have used a too narrow and very textual interpretation of the term ‘individual’.