Akin IP Lawyers Publish AI-Assisted Drug Discovery Article in PharmaPhorum

PharmaPhorum has published “Patentability and predictability in AI-assisted drug discovery,” an article by Akin intellectual property partner Michael Kahn and counsel Ryan Dowell and Svetlana Pavlovic. The article discusses the evolving use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and the potential implications for intellectual property (IP) protection in the life sciences space.

Among the topics covered, the authors discuss:

• United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) guidance on AI-assisted inventions: “Inventions require “significant contribution” by a human - not simply the rote implementation of an AI-enabled discovery.”
• The current AI drug development “toolkit”: “AI tools have become more widespread and available over the past several years, moving from pure research to turnkey solutions… The use of AI tools to enhance drug discovery and predictability has the potential to enhance patent protection covering the resulting inventions.”
• Patents and the “unpredictable arts”: “The ability to protect innovation in the life sciences has been shaped in large part by two related patent law doctrines - the “enablement” and “written description” requirements. Both requirements are analyzed from the standpoint of a hypothetical person “having ordinary skill in the art” - the so-called ‘skilled artisan.’ While there is no precise formula for defining the “skilled artisan,” the idea is that patent documents should be assessed from the standpoint of an individual knowledgeable in the field of science pertinent to the invention.”

To read the full article, click here.