Generative Artificial Intelligence and Drug Discovery: Reconfiguring the ‘Person Skilled in the Art’ Standard; [Inteligência artificial generativa e descoberta de fármacos: reconfiguração do padrão da pessoa versada na matéria]

Ramos-Zaga F.A. · Revista Iberoamericana de la Propiedad Intelectual (2026) · DOI: 10.26422/ripi.2026.2400.ram

Resumen

The contemporary architecture of patent law rests on an anthropocentric standard of inventive step that presupposes the cognitive limits inherent to human research, a premise that the systematic integration of generative artificial intelligence in drug discovery has begun to destabilize by turning the massive exploration of chemical space into an ordinary practice. The objective of this article is to analyze the reconfiguration of the PSA/PHOSITA standard in light of the structural incorporation of artificial intelligence tools in drug discovery, assessing the shifting boundary between routine technical optimization and inventive step. The results identify a systemic tension: the expansion of the exploratory capacity attributable to the person skilled in the art generates confusion between computational accessibility and technical predictability, erodes the obvious to try doctrine, and produces regulatory fragmentation, which demands criteria that distinguish algorithmic generation from inventive selection and revalue secondary considerations. It is concluded that preserving the incentive and disclosure functions of the patent system requires maintaining a fundamentally human standard that incorporates algorithmic competence without reducing inventiveness to mere computational power. © (2026), (Austral University). All rights reserved.

Instituciones: Universidad Privada del Norte