USPTO Report on Artificial Intelligence and Policy

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released a report on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy. It takes a comprehensive look at a wide variety of views on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) across the intellectual property (IP) landscape, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret policy, as well as developing issues about database protection. The new report represents the agency’s firm commitment to keeping pace with this rapidly changing and critical technology in order to accelerate American innovation.

The USPTO discloses that as artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, the United States will not cede leadership in global innovation. The Department of Commerce recognizes the importance of harnessing American ingenuity to advance and protect our economic security.

The federal agency further states that new AI technologies demand careful consideration in light of current intellectual property laws. To that end, the USPTO proactively solicited public input through two formal Requests for Comments published in the Federal Register. In response, the agency received approximately 200 unique comments from a broad range of experts in foreign patent offices, bar associations, trade associations, academia, law firms, and companies in the electronics, software, automobile, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.

As the report indicates, the majority of commenters believe the U.S. legal system is well equipped to handle the emerging issues raised by AI. However, many commented that a close eye must be kept on legal and scientific developments in AI to ensure the United States keeps up with this critical technology.