USPTO Schedules Public Symposium on AI’s Role in Intellectual Property Authorship and Inventorship

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced a public symposium focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP), scheduled for March 27, 2024, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. The event will be held both virtually and in person at Loyola Marymount University Law School in Los Angeles.

This symposium aligns with the USPTO’s efforts under President Biden’s Executive Order 14110, titled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” The order directs federal agencies to address the challenges and opportunities posed by AI technologies, including their impact on IP law.

An agenda detailing speakers and panel discussions has been published on the USPTO event page. The panels will feature experts specializing in patent, trademark, and copyright law. A central topic of discussion will be the question: Can generative AI be considered an author or inventor? The symposium will explore this issue through comparative analyses of copyright and patent frameworks.

Due to high demand, seating for the in-person portion of the symposium has reached capacity. Prospective attendees wishing to join in person will be placed on a waitlist. However, registration remains open for virtual participation, allowing broader access to the event.

The USPTO encourages interested parties to register promptly to secure virtual attendance. The agency also reminds the public that this announcement was disseminated from an unmonitored mailbox and directs inquiries to its official contact page at www.uspto.gov/about/contacts.

This symposium represents a significant step in the USPTO’s ongoing engagement with the legal and technological communities to clarify how AI-generated works and inventions should be treated under existing IP laws. The discussions are expected to inform future policy and regulatory approaches to AI-related intellectual property issues.

Stakeholders and observers in the fields of IP law, technology development, and AI governance are advised to monitor the outcomes of this event for insights into the evolving legal landscape surrounding generative AI.