Topic: Artificial intelligence

Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (or AI) and machine learning are opening up new ways to derive novel insights and augment decision making for more diverse and inclusive workplaces.

After a somewhat surprising victory in the Federal Court last year (about which we wrote in our article ‘Rise of the Machines’), the hopes that an artificial intelligence machine, nicknamed DABUS, could be named as the inventor on a patent application have now been dashed by the Full Court. In short, the Full Court upheld an appeal by the Commissioner, ultimately finding that Dr Thaler’s patent application had indeed lapsed for failure to name an ‘inventor’ as required by the relevant regulations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are capable of creating a wide range of artistic, musical, and literary works and inventions without human involvement. These AI creations raise challenges to intellectual property (IP) frameworks.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) recently provided a first glimpse into how it will treat the issue of AI inventorship.

In October 2021, the European Commission launched a public consultation (Consultation) on adapting liability rules to the digital age and artificial intelligence (AI).

Following its call for views on AI and the IP framework in early 2021, the UK Government has released another consultation on AI and IP rights.

While many of us (in Australia at least), have spent the better part of the last two years locked down, sitting on the couch waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic, judges and patent examiners around the world have been busy grappling with questions ranging from the mundane (legislative interpretation) to the existential (what it means to be ‘a creator’ ).

Regulation of artificial intelligence is on the way in many regions across the globe. The EU Commission has proposed an AI regulation that would apply to financial institutions, and governments elsewhere are considering their own regulatory responses.

Copyright, one of the fundamental intellectual property rights, grants the owner of copyright rights and control over the expression of ideas that are reduced to tangible forms such as literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.

In this last instalment of our three part blog series, we consider the policy and legal implications of permitting or prohibiting AI to be an inventor, with a focus on the Canadian context.