Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The heads of the patent offices of China, Europe, Korea, Japan and the United States met today and declared artificial intelligence one of the top strategic priorities for them as a group. Other efforts included work on harmonising patent practices, the Global Dossier program, classification of new technologies, and patents and standards, according to a release.
The European Commission appointed 52 experts today to a new High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, and also launched the AI Alliance, an online forum to facilitate broad participation in dialogue on the burgeoning technology.
The former mayor of Munich, Christian Ude (Social Democratic Party), clashed with the new head of IT of the Bavarian capital over the city's re-migration from Linux to Microsoft at an event organised by the Green Party yesterday.
Legislative changes giving effect to South Africa’s recently published Intellectual Property Policy “Phase 1” will not take place during this term of government, the country’s trade minister has said. Meanwhile, a side-by-side comparison with the 2017 draft legislation shows a series of changes in the final policy, and the pharmaceutical industry is complaining but appears determined to continue investing in the country.
Frederick Abbott writes: On 20 May 2018, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced that the US and China were “putting the trade war on hold” while the two countries seek to “execute the framework” of a broad agreement intended to reduce the US trade deficit in goods with China. According to the joint statement issued on 19 May 2018, “Both sides attach paramount importance to intellectual property protections, and agreed to strengthen cooperation. China will advance relevant amendments to its laws and regulations in this area, including the Patent Law.”
A report published today by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) deplores rising volume of intellectual property rights infringement in both immaterial goods and digital content and warns against the economic effects for the Union.
A new “virtual assistant” used by the Australian Intellectual Property Office may be able in the future to read the facial expressions of trademark filers and provide them with solutions - with empathy.
Copyright law, to be sustainable, calls for a balance. Under copyright law, creators receive exclusive rights to allow or prevent others from making copies of their works for a limited time as an incentive to create. Users receive benefits from the results of the creator’s labor, perhaps through watching, reading or listening to those results. Users may also benefit pursuant to a license to use the works in other ways. Eventually the works fall into the public domain, allowing further reuse by everyone. Recent litigation involving a graffiti artist and a purveyor of sportswear shows how sometimes a flexible mechanism for balancing the copyright entitlements of creators and users makes sense, writes Roy Kaufman.
MUNICH -- United States and Chinese patent practitioners this week called for considerations to change patent legislation and allow patenting algorithms in the future. They spoke at a 30 May conference of the European Patent Office in Munich on “Patenting Artificial Intelligence.”
The new Intellectual Property Policy of South Africa has now been posted to a government website.
Sophia, the well-known human-like robot who acquired citizenship in Saudi Arabia, was at the Artificial Intelligence for Good Global Summit which took place earlier this month in Geneva. Her creator, David Hanson, also CEO and founder of Hanson Robotics, gave an interview to Intellectual Property Watch's Catherine Saez and explained his philosophy about intellectual property, the needed spark of interest in human-like robots, data collection, and innovation.
Hanson is also lead designer and inventor of key technologies including Frubber nanotech, facial expressions and AI software. He is former Walt Disney Imagineering designer, and recipient of numerous awards. A video interview about Sophia is embedded in this text.
It took nine years of policy development, two different draft policies and various rounds of public consultation, to finally see Cabinet give the nod to the new Intellectual Property (IP) policy in South Africa.