Globally, governments are grappling with the emergence of artificial intelligence (“AI”). AI technologies introduce exciting new opportunities but also bring challenges for regulators and companies across all industries. In the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) region, there is no exception. APAC governments are adapting to AI and finding ways to encourage and regulate AI development through existing intellectual
Intellectual Property
Like a Tree Falling that No One Hears: AI-generated Disclosures Have the Potential to Block Patentability of Human Ingenuity
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office continues to seek stakeholder input on AI-generated disclosures and patentability. Earlier this year, USPTO issued a public Request for Comment on the impact of artificial intelligence on prior art, the known understanding of a person of ordinary skill and how this effects patentability, specifically novelty and obviousness of a…
Great Expectations! New EU Design Law to Come into Force Soon
For many years, it has been possible to obtain registered IP protection for the designs of products that have visual appeal in the Member States of the EU. Separately, this is also the case in the UK. The resulting registered industrial design rights have become a valuable and powerful legal tool in every company’s IP…
Intelligent AI Guidance from the USPTO Identifies Potential Perils
Much like word processing with spell check and other now commonplace digital tools were once only the stuff of science fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming widespread in knowledge work including law practice. IP law is no exception. The use of AI in IP law practice has practical benefits, including the potential for enhanced…
Why the Taylor Swift AI Scandal is Pushing Lawmakers to Address Pornographic Deepfakes
Last month, viral AI-generated pornographic pictures of Taylor Swift circulated on X (formerly Twitter), with one post remaining for 17 hours and receiving more than 45 million views, 24,000 reposts, and hundreds of thousands of likes before the verified account was suspended for violating platform policy. The images, allegedly created using a company’s text-to-image…
Japan’s Flexible Approach to AI and Copyright Supports AI Development
SPB’s Joe Grasser and Scott Warren recently examined the current state of Japan’s copyright laws as they relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI). As they explain, Japan has taken a very flexible approach to help “jump start” AI development in the country.
Given the potential impact that this law could have on AI development, we wanted…
Japan’s New Draft Guidelines on AI and Copyright: Is It Really OK to Train AI Using Pirated Materials?
On January 23, 2024, the Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA) released its draft “Approach to AI and Copyright” for public comment, to clarify how ingestion and output of copyrighted materials in Japan should be considered. On February 29, 2024, after considering nearly 25,000 comments, additional changes were made. This document, created by an ACA…
Who Invented This? The Continuing Importance of Human Ingenuity in Patenting AI Related Inventions
Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and are affecting almost every industry. In compliance with section 5.2(c)(i) of the President’s October 30, 2023 Executive Order (EO) 14110, titled “Safe, Secure, And Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has…
AI Art Registration Denied – The Copyright Review Board Tells Applicant To Gogh Home
Last Fall in this space, we discussed the U.S. Copyright Office’s AI Initiative launched in early 2023. Among other things, the Initiative’s portal compiles registration decisions for AI-generated materials. Particularly instructive is a December 11, 2023 decision by the Copyright Review Board affirming the denial of registration to an AI-generated artwork. As detailed below,…
UK Supreme Court rules on AI and Patent Applications
In a much anticipated judgment, the UK Supreme Court delivered on 20 December 2023 its ruling in the case of Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (Thaler (Appellant) v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (Respondent) – The Supreme Court) on whether an artificial intelligence (AI) system can be named…