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Category Archives: Intellectual Property

USPTO AI Guidance Highlights Risks for Practitioners and Public

IP Watchdog: “The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced guidance for practitioners and the public regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the preparation of filings for submission to the Office. The guidance comes two months after the Office issued a guidance memorandum for the Trademark and Patent Trial and Appeal Boards (TTAB and PTAB) on the misuse of AI tools before the Boards that clarified the application of existing rules to AI submissions. That guidance was in part prompted by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ 2023 year-end report, which acknowledged both the benefits and dangers of AI in the context of the legal profession. It also noted President Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI, which directed the USPTO Director to issue recommendations to the President, in consultation with the Director of the Copyright Office, on potential executive actions to be taken relating to copyright and AI. Today’s draft Federal Register Notice builds upon the February guidance and is aimed at reminding professionals, innovators, and entrepreneurs of the existing USPTO rules that protect against the potential “perils” of AI. These include the Duty of Candor and Good Faith; the Signature Requirement; Confidentiality of Information; Foreign Filing Licenses and Export Regulations; existing electronic systems’ policies; and duties owed to clients…”

The Intersection Of Human Creativity And AI

Above the Law: A Legal Renaissance – “AI’s foray into the creative domain, producing works that rival human creations, has sparked a debate on the future of creativity itself. In the labyrinth of modern advancements, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries and redefining boundaries. Yet, as AI extends its reach into the world of creativity… Continue Reading

A Friendly Reminder: A.I. Work Isn’t Yours

The New York Times: “Many organizations are grappling with how to manage A.I. in the workplace. The next time someone turns in work generated by A.I. without an appropriate acknowledgment, simply tell them that moving forward, they need to identify all A.I.-generated work. But it’s also important to take a more expansive approach instead of… Continue Reading

IP – Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of Trademark System

Intellectual Property: Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of the Trademark System. Published: Mar 14, 2024. Publicly Released: Mar 14, 2024. “…The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) established two new procedures—expungement and reexamination—that allow individuals and businesses to challenge a registered trademark on the basis that it was not used in commerce,… Continue Reading

Plagiarism doesn’t need AI to thrive online

Vox – A YouTuber’s deep dive on plagiarism tries to make viewers care when creators steal content: “Copying has always been a part of internet culture. Sometimes it’s ethical, sometimes not. It’s almost always incentivized: Once social media began reshaping online life, copying became a go-to tactic for getting views. When copying crosses an ethical… Continue Reading

Artists Lose First Round of Copyright Infringement Case Against AI Art Generators

Hollywood Reporter: “Artists suing generative artificial intelligence art generators have hit a stumbling block in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over the uncompensated and unauthorized use of billions of images downloaded from the internet to train AI systems, with a federal judge’s dismissal of most claims. U.S. District Judge William Orrick on Monday found that copyright infringement… Continue Reading

Lessig on why AI and social media are causing a free speech crisis for the internet

The Verge: Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig – After 30 years teaching law, the internet policy legend is as worried as you’d think about AI and TikTok — and he has surprising thoughts about balancing free speech with protecting democracy. Nilay Patel: “…Larry and I talked about the current and recurring controversy around react videos on… Continue Reading

AI is learning from stolen intellectual property. It needs to stop.

Washington Post – William D. Cohan is a best-selling author and a founding partner of Puck News: “The other day someone sent me the searchable database published by The Atlantic that have been used to train the generative AI systems being developed by Meta, Bloomberg and others. It turns out that four of my seven… Continue Reading

These 183,000 Books Are Fueling the Biggest Fight in Publishing and Tech

The Atlantic – Editor’s note: This searchable database is part of The Atlantic’s series on Books3. You can read about the origins of the database here, and an analysis of what’s in it here. “This summer, I acquired a data set of more than 191,000 books that were used without permission to train generative-AI systems… Continue Reading