Finitely generated invariants of Hopf algebras on free associative algebras

We show that the invariants of a free associative algebra of finite rank under a linear action of a finite-dimensional Hopf algebra generated by group-like and skew-primitive elements form a finitely generated algebra exactly when the action is scalar. This generalizes an analogous result for group actions by automorphisms obtained by Dicks and Formanek, and Kharchenko.