On May 21, Ha Kung Wong published “AI in development of pharmaceutical compounds” in Westlaw Today. Keely Redhage was a contributor. Below is an excerpt.
Ha Kung Wong of Venable LLP examines the patent inventorship challenges involved in artificial intelligence-assisted drug development and offers strategies for inventors to minimize the risks involved with AI use.
- Introduction
Over the course of just a few short years the landscape of AI has shifted dramatically from programs that struggled to produce basic sentences to platforms that can now solve the most complex research questions in seconds. The evolution of AI has led many companies to utilize this technology to streamline workflows and bring products to market faster.
One industry that quickly embraced AI is pharmaceutical companies. By using AI, pharmaceutical companies create workflows that can quickly develop the next class of drugs or troubleshoot anticipated issues before they even arise. This allows these companies to streamline years of research and dramatically reduce resources required for development.
However, when AI platforms are used to develop the next class of drugs the question of inventorship can be subject to even greater scrutiny, and for this industry, patents are just as valuable as the commercial product itself. As a result, the question of how one should navigate inventorship challenges when using AI in drug research and development is more important than ever.
- A change in AI guidance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
On November 28, 2025, the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), John Squires, issued a revised standard for assessing patent inventorship where AI was used to achieve the end product.1
These revised guidelines rescinded the February 13, 2024, memo "Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions," which relied on prior case law and USPTO guidance to address the rapidly evolving implications of AI on inventorship.2
The 2024 memo envisioned scenarios where AI would be used in the development of pharmaceutical compounds and provided guidelines for inventors to maintain ownership while still acknowledging the use of AI.3
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