On July 28, South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission granted a patent that listed artificial intelligence machine DABUS as an inventor, a first for any patent office. DABUS also scored a win in late July when an Australian federal court rejected Australia’s deputy commissioner of patents’ argument that an inventor can only be a human and remitted the matter back to the patent office.

University of Surrey law and health professor Ryan Abbott, who along with his fellow JAMS neutrals and international patent attorneys secured the patent in South Africa, said the developments were significant because they’re building a pathway for legal protection for an increasingly prevalent use of technology.