1. In brief On May 16, 2024, the Tokyo District Court issued a judgment in relation to a case as to whether “AI” could be recognized as an “inventor” of a patent. The judgment indicated that it is reasonable to conclude that an “inventor” under the Patent Act is limited to natural persons in light of the intellectual property laws and other laws in Japan. 2. Background 2.1 The patent application and inventor identified in…
Articles about artificial intelligence appear daily in many legal publications — including this one. But, on May 28, U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit wrote a concurring opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance Co. for the specific purpose of floating an idea about how judges might use generative AI. Judge Newsom undertook this potential “heresy” — to use his word — with a light touch, as indicated…
This article was first published in Corporate Counsel Magazine. A New Era of Influence: A Swift Take on Branding, Computer-Generated Influencers and Deepfakes | Corporate Counsel (law.com) A-list celebrities like Taylor Swift are not the only ones leveraging their influence to promote and sell products and services. Streamers, vloggers, and other creatives are using their platforms to influence today’s consumer trends. However, a steep rise in the use of GenAI and computer-generated influencers brings with…
On April 29, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released initial drafts of four significant policy and governance documents aimed at improving the safety and reliability of AI systems. The launch came on the 180th day following President Biden’s Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development of AI, which instructed NIST to establish guidelines and best practices to promote consensus industry standards for developing and deploying…
In Brief On May 17, 2024 Colorado Governor Polis signed the landmark Colorado AI Act (Senate Bill 24-205) into law. Colorado is now the first US state with comprehensive AI regulation, adopting a classification system like the European Union’s recent AI Act. The law will take effect February 1, 2026. The law exempts small employers (fewer than fifty full-time employees) from some of its requirements but otherwise requires companies to take extensive measures to protect…
Following AI guidance published earlier this year (USPTO Issues New Guidance on Inventorship when Assisted by AI), the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) continues to update and expand its guidance concerning the use of AI tools by parties and practitioners. While previous guidance focused in on the impact of AI on development and inventorship (and the barriers that such use may present towards seeking proper patent protection), this most recent guidance turns to the…
In brief The Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) has announced a significant initiative to explore the impacts of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on competition in Canada. On 20 March 2024, the Bureau published a discussion paper, entitled “Artificial intelligence and competition” (“Discussion Paper”), and has requested feedback from the public. The Bureau is seeking to better understand how AI can affect competition in Canada. It is also seeking to determine how it can better prepare to address…
Copyright 2024 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. (800-372-1033) AI: Real Money, Light Representations & Light Deal Certainties. Reproduced with permission. Editor’s note: For additional guidance on practice-specific areas of risk associated with the use of generative and other forms of AI, see our AI Legal Issues Toolkit. For additional information on laws, regulations, guidance, and other legal developments related to AI, visit In Focus: Artificial Intelligence (AI); Data Security, Professional Perspective – Regulation of AI Foundation Models. The wave of…
On March 18, 2024, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) announced that it settled charges against two investment advisers for making false and misleading statements about their purported use of artificial intelligence (AI). This SEC enforcement action marks the latest efforts by securities regulators to combat the adverse effects of “AI washing” and confirms that AI, and particularly “AI washing”, is at the forefront of securities regulators’ minds. What is “AI washing”? “AI washing”…
In brief Surrounded by an improbable retinue of country music stars and state lawmakers, on March 21, 2024 Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB 2091, which amends the state’s right of publicity statute to create the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024 (the “ELVIS Act”). The ELVIS Act is billed as the first law to protect “songwriters, performers, and music industry professionals’ voice from the misuse of artificial intelligence.” The ELVIS Act…