Switzerland: Swiss Federal Administrative Court issued ruling in inventor designation for Artificial Intelligence -generated patent invention (Stephen L. Thaler v Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property) (No. B-2532/2024)

On 26 June 2025, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court ruled on the patent application involving the Artificial Intelligence (AI) system Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience (DABUS), confirming that under Swiss law, only natural persons can be named inventors. The Court rejected the appellant’s main request to designate DABUS as the inventor and held that patent applications must include a named natural person inventor. It was highlighted that ownership of the AI system alone does not confer inventorship, but the appellant’s demonstrated intellectual contribution through interaction with the AI output qualified him as an inventor. The Court annulled the lower instance’s refusal to grant the patent on this basis and instructed the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property to continue examination, naming Stephen L. Thaler as inventor, with the decision subject to appeal within 30 days.