---
title: "Memo: AI contribution, inventorship and authorship before filing"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/intellectual-property-patents-trade-marks-copyright-designs/ai-inventorship-and-authorship-disclosure-memo"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a23-ai-inventorship-and-authorship-disclosure-memo"
area_id: "A23"
kind: "memo"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Memo: AI contribution, inventorship and authorship before filing

> File memo for patent and copyright matters where AI tools were used: maps each claimed feature or creative element to the human who conceived it, records the AI tools used, and confirms the named inventors and the…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/intellectual-property-patents-trade-marks-copyright-designs/ai-inventorship-and-authorship-disclosure-memo  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

File memo for patent and copyright matters where AI tools were used: maps each claimed feature or creative element to the human who conceived it, records the AI tools used, and confirms the named inventors and the applicant's entitlement.

## Key facts

- Kind: Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Practice area: [Intellectual Property — Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright, Designs](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/intellectual-property-patents-trade-marks-copyright-designs.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, United Kingdom (England and Wales), United States
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the 5 authorities it cites, for Australia, United Kingdom (England and Wales) and United States.

## When to use it

Use before filing a patent application, or before asserting or assigning copyright, where AI tools contributed to the invention or work. It records the facts and the lawyer's conclusion; it is not filed with the application unless the lawyer decides to rely on it.

## How AI may be used

AI may help organise the inventor disclosure, lab records and tool logs into the contribution table. The conclusion on who conceived each feature, and therefore who is named, is the lawyer's or patent attorney's, based on the inventors' own accounts.

**AI may:**

- Index the invention disclosure, lab notebooks and AI tool logs feature by feature, with page or entry references.
- Draft the contribution table for the lawyer to complete after interviewing each contributor.
- List claimed features with no recorded human contributor.

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide inventorship or authorship.
- Must not process unpublished invention details in a tool that trains on inputs or is not covered by confidentiality terms; disclosure could affect novelty.
- Must not draft the patent specification or claims.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Each named inventor contributed to the conception of at least one claimed feature, confirmed in interview.
- The applicant's entitlement chain under s 15(1)(b) or (c) is documented by employment terms or assignment.
- The memo is updated if the claims are amended.

## Authorities

- [Patents Act 1990 (Cth) s 15 (who may be granted a patent)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04014/latest/text)
- [Commissioner of Patents v Thaler 2022 FCAFC 62 (an inventor must be a natural person)](https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/full/2022/2022fcafc0062)
- [Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks 2023 UKSC 49](https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2021-0201)
- [35 U.S.C. § 100(f) and USPTO, Revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions (Federal Register, 28 November 2025)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/28/2025-21457/revised-inventorship-guidance-for-ai-assisted-inventions)
- [Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 32, 35 and Telstra Corporation Ltd v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd 2010 FCAFC 149 (human authorship)](https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/full/2010/2010fcafc0149)

## Official form

[Official form](https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/how-to-apply-for-a-standard-patent)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/intellectual-property-patents-trade-marks-copyright-designs/ai-inventorship-and-authorship-disclosure-memo and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*