Tom McNulty Participates in NYC Bar Association Patents Committee Roundtable: “Current Developments in Intellectual Property Protection for AI Creations”

On Monday, May 22nd, Counsel Tom McNulty participated in a roundtable discussion sponsored by the NYC Bar Association Patents Committee. The panel also included Chris Hannon, a patent attorney in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the US Patent and Trademark Office, and Dr. Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, MTOM, Ph.D., Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the University of Surrey School of Law and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The timely program, “Current Developments in Intellectual Property Protection for AI Creations,” focused on issues surrounding AI and inventorship at the USPTO, related litigation, and the Patent Office’s request for public comments regarding AI and inventorship. Panelists also discussed the potential assignment of rights by the Copyright Office in works generated solely by AI and the guidance issued by the Copyright Office concerning works containing material generated by AI.

For further reference material on this topic, see Tom’s recent Law360 article “AI-Generated Works Should Not Have Copyright Protection” and his recent podcast appearance discussing AI and IP ownership.