Neuralink files to trademark 'Telepathy' and 'Telekinesis. The brain implant company cofounded by Elon Musk is moving to tra...
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| Neuralink files to trademark 'Telepathy' and 'Telekinesis. |
Neuralink’s interface involves a brain implant that collects neural signals and software that translates those signals into cursor movements on a computer screen. So far, three people have received Neuralink’s experimental implant as part of an early feasibility study. The first, Noland Arbaugh, underwent brain surgery in January 2024 to get the device. In November, the company received permission to open a trial site in Canada.
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| The brain implant technology powered by AI could lead to the application of Telepathy and Telekinesis. |
“The question is, what kind of communication?” says trademark attorney Josh Gerben, founder of Gerben IP. “Sometimes things hide in plain sight in these applications.” However, he cautions that claims on trademark applications can be speculative and overly broad compared with patent applications, which must be more detailed about how an invention works and what it will be used for. Enabling telepathic communication would, though, fit with Musk’s broader vision for Neuralink.
Musk has long been interested in the concept of enabling telepathy with a brain-computer interface. In a lengthy illustrated explainer from 2017 in which he outlined the idea behind his then new company Neuralink, Musk advocated for thought communication between people. “If I were to communicate a concept to you, you would essentially engage in consensual telepathy. You wouldn’t need to verbalize unless you want to add a little flair to the conversation or something, but the conversation would be conceptual interaction on a level that’s difficult to conceive of right now,” Musk told blogger Tim Urban at the time.
More recently, Musk discussed Neuralink’s telepathic ambitions on the Lex Fridman Podcast in August 2024. “Entire new ways of interacting with the computer might be unlocked,” Fridman said, referring to potential improvements in the speed and accuracy of Neuralink’s device. “And with other humans,” Musk replied. “Provided they have—they want—a Neuralink too.” Musk has speculated that healthy people will eventually get brain implants, enabling humans to achieve “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence. On the same day as the Telepathy application, Neuralink also filed to obtain trademarks for Telekinesis and Blindsight.
Telekinesis is the purported psychic ability to move objects without physical interaction, and the trademark filing could refer to a future product to control robotic limbs and other devices. In November 2024, the company announced plans to test whether paralyzed individuals can use the implant to move a robotic arm. In a February post, the company said a study participant named Alex is now using his implant to control various assistive devices, including a robotic arm.
Blindsight is a brain implant Neuralink is developing for people with vision loss. In September, the company posted on X that Blindsight received Breakthrough Device designation from the Food and Drug Administration. The designation is meant to accelerate the assessment and review of novel devices that have the potential to address an unmet need. The trademark application describes the product as a device “for restoring visual perception.”
Neuralink is also attempting to trademark the terms Link, N1, and R1. The company has used the term “Link” to refer to its brain-computer-interface system. N1, meanwhile, refers to the Neuralink electrode array that is implanted into the brain of a patient, and the R1 is the sewing-machine-like robot the company is developing to surgically install the implant into people’s brains.
The company’s filings for Telekinesis, N1, and Link also describe Neuralink’s technology as “facilitating communication.”The trademark applications were filed on an “intent to use” basis, which means the company has a “bona fide intent” to use the trademark in commerce.
Telepathy and Telekinesis
Both telepathy and telekinesis are concepts rooted in parapsychology and occult science, often associated with supernatural or psychic abilities. However, there is no scientific evidence supporting their existence. Telepathy is the supposed ability to transmit thoughts, emotions, or information from one person's mind to another without using speech, writing, or other physical means. It is often referred to as mind reading or thought transference.
Types of Telepathy
- Emotional Telepathy: Transmitting feelings and emotions without verbal expression.
- Mental Telepathy: Sending detailed thoughts, images, or ideas directly to another person’s mind.
- Precognitive Telepathy: Receiving thoughts or information about future events.
2. Telekinesis
Telekinesis is ''mind over the matter'' is also known as psychokinesis (PK), is the alleged ability to move or manipulate objects using the power of the mind alone. This concept is frequently seen in movies, books, and paranormal studies.
Telekinetic Abilities
- Moving objects without touching them.
- Bending spoons or metal with thought.
- Levitation (lifting oneself or objects off the ground).
- Controlling fire, water, or other elements mentally (pyrokinesis, hydrokinesis).
Neuralink’s technology has not received regulatory approval and is still experimental. But companies often file trademark applications years before their products come to market, so that they can publicly use those names without running into any legal issues and needing to change them later on. Descriptive words that describe a feature of a product or service cannot be trademarked, so the government will have to decide whether Neuralink can protect the word “Telepathy” and others as product names.
Registering a trademark is a complex process that takes 12 to 18 months. That process could be slowed by Musk’s own so-called Department of Government Efficiency if staff cuts hit the USPTO.