Time to talk about ownership of AI-generated intellectual property assets

Legal Year in Review

In this article – “Time to talk about ownership of AI-generated intellectual property assets” – we discuss how, as computers have become more powerful and they acquire higher-order brain function through machine-learning, they have developed the capacity for activity that humans would otherwise consider original or inventive, creating works worthy of copyright protection and inventions worthy of patents. In 2021, the first global court decisions grappled with whether a non-human can be an inventor for the purposes of patent law. By reviewing some of the decisions from courts around the world, we explore whether a non-human can be an inventor for the purposes of patent law. We also discuss whether AI can be an author under copyright law, and the implications of the increasing recognition of AI-generated creations within intellectual property systems.

This article is authored by Nathaniel Lipkus, Barry Fong and J. Bradley White, partners in Osler’s Intellectual Property team; and Ryan Howes and Leah McGurn, who are both associates in the firm’s IP team.

Legal Year in Review is brought to you by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Osler is a leading, national law firm with a singular focus – your business. We advise clients on an array of domestic and cross-border legal issues, drawing on the expertise of over 450 lawyers to provide the answers you need, when you need them.

Our Legal Year in Review, published December 7, 2021, provides general information only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Specific advice should be sought in connection with your circumstances.

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