AI and inventorship guidance: Incentivizing human ingenuity and investment in AI-assisted inventions; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), February 12, 2024

Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ; Director's Blog: the latest from USPTO leadership

AI and inventorship guidance: Incentivizing human ingenuity and investment in AI-assisted inventions

"Today, based on the exceptional public feedback we’ve received, we announced our Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions in the Federal Register – the first of these directives. The guidance, which is effective on February 13, 2024, provides instructions to examiners and stakeholders on how to determine whether the human contribution to an innovation is significant enough to qualify for a patent when AI also contributed. The guidance embraces the use of AI in innovation and provides that AI-assisted inventions are not categorically unpatentable. The guidance instructs examiners on how to determine the correct inventor(s) to be named in a patent or patent application for inventions created by humans with the assistance of one or more AI systems. Additionally, we’ve posted specific examples of hypothetical situations and how the guidance would apply to those situations to further assist our examiners and applicants in their understanding."

Inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions webinar; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), March 5, 2024 1 PM - 2 PM ET

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ; Inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions webinar

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plays an important role in incentivizing and protecting innovation, including innovation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI and other emerging technologies (ET).

The USPTO announced Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions in the Federal Register. This guidance is pursuant to President Biden's Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (October 30, 2023) with provisions addressing IP equities. The guidance, which is effective on February 13, 2024, provides instructions to USPTO personnel and stakeholders on determining the correct inventor(s) to be named in a patent or patent application for inventions created by humans with the assistance of one or more AI systems. 

The USPTO will host a webinar on Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions on Tuesday, March 5, from 1-2 p.m. EST. USPTO personnel will provide an overview of the guidance and answer stakeholder questions relating to the guidance.

This event is free and open to the public, but virtual space is limited, so please register early."

EU countries strike deal on landmark AI rulebook; Politico, February 2, 2024

 GIAN VOLPICELLI, Politico ; EU countries strike deal on landmark AI rulebook

"European Union member countries on Friday unanimously reached a deal on the bloc’s Artificial Intelligence Act, overcoming last-minute fears that the rulebook would stifle European innovation.

EU deputy ambassadors green-lighted the final compromise text, hashed out following lengthy negotiations between representatives of the Council, members of the European Parliament and European Commission officials...

Over the past few weeks, the bloc’s top economies Germany and France, alongside Austria, hinted that they might oppose the text in Friday’s vote...

Eventually, the matter was resolved through the EU’s familiar blend of PR offensive and diplomatic maneuvering. The Commission ramped up the pressure by announcing a splashy package of pro-innovation measures targeting the AI sector, and in one fell swoop created the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Office — a body tasked with enforcing the AI Act...

A spokesperson for German Digital Minister Volker Wissing, the foremost AI Act skeptic within Germany’s coalition government, told POLITICO: "We asked the EU Commission to clarify that the AI Act does not apply to the use of AI in medical devices.".

A statement the European Commission, circulated among EU diplomats ahead of the vote and seen by POLITICO, reveals plans to set up an “expert group” comprising  EU member countries’ authorities. The group’s function will be to “ advise and assist” the Commission in applying and implementing the AI Act...

The AI Act still needs the formal approval of the European Parliament. The text is slated to get rubber-stamped at the committee level in two weeks, with a plenary vote expected in April."

Marybeth Peters: Renaissance Woman of Copyright; New York City Bar Association Podcasts, December 13, 2023

New York City Bar Association Podcasts; Marybeth Peters: Renaissance Woman of Copyright

"Lawyer. Leader. Public Servant. Trailblazer. Friend.

Marybeth Peters, the second-longest serving Register of Copyrights (1994 - 2010), died on September 29, 2022, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 83. With her passing, Register Peters left behind a lasting and far-reaching legacy in her storied 40-plus year career as a distinguished attorney, respected copyright law expert, and the director of the U.S. Copyright Office, where she helped shape and implement critical new laws, including the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act among others. In addition, Register Peters was remembered as a mentor, teacher, and friend who touched the lives of everyone around her with grace and her unforgettable laugh.

Presented by the New York City Bar Copyright and Literary Property Committee, committee member Theodora Fleurant, a trademark attorney based in New York City, and Jose Landivar, an Associate at Coates IP, lead an unforgettable series of conversations with some of the people closest to Register Peters to look back on her life and legacy, including:

•	Shira Perlmutter, the current Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office
•	Maria Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers who formerly served as the 12th Register of Copyrights
•	Richard Dannay, Counsel at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C.
•	Eric Schwartz, Partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, and former Acting General Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor to the Register of Copyrights
•	David Carson, current Copyright Office Claims Officer who, formerly served as head of the Copyright Policy Team in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and as General Counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office

This podcast paints a fascinating portrait of a leading U.S. and international copyright law expert. It seeks to inspire listeners with lessons in leadership, courage, innovation, and dedicated public service.

This podcast would not have been possible without the support of the U.S. Copyright Office (https://www.copyright.gov/) and audio provided by the Copyright Clearance Center.

Photo: Courtesy of the U.S. Copyright Office.

Access a transcript of this episode here: https://bityl.co/MvSf"

Pitt is a top 20 leader in patents in the U.S.; Pittwire, University of Pittsburgh, September 15, 2023

Pittwire, University of Pittsburgh; Pitt is a top 20 leader in patents in the U.S.

"From quantum computers to better wheelchair technology, innovators at the University of Pittsburgh are always pushing boundaries. Now, a new ranking confirms what Pitt people have long known: we’re among the top 20 most innovative universities nationwide.

According to a new list from the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Pitt ranks No. 16 for U.S. universities granted utility patents in 2022.

Pitt innovators earned 105 of these patents in 2022, just behind the University of Pennsylvania at 108 and far surpassing other Pennsylvania universities on the list, including Carnegie Mellon University at No. 37, Penn State University at No. 51, Drexel University at No. 57 and Temple University at No. 75.

Drawing from data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the list focuses specifically on utility patents, which offer protection to inventors for new processes, machines or other innovations."

Webinar: Proud Innovation 2022, part one: From ideas to innovations; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Wednesday, June 15, 2022 3 PM - 4:05 EDT

Proud Innovation 2022, part one: From ideas to innovations 

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Do you have an idea you want to bring to life? Join the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to get inspired by successful innovators turning concepts into creations. Register for the free, online Proud Innovation 2022 series, part one: From ideas to innovations.

The Proud Innovation series highlights the accomplishments of LGBTQIA+ innovators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners who are using their intellectual property to promote advancements and serve as mentors.

This page will be updated with speaker biographies as the event approaches.

Agenda

(All times ET)

3-3:05 p.m. Program welcome and overview    

• Sean Wilkerson, Innovation Outreach Program Manager, USPTO 

3:05-3:10 p.m.  Leadership greetings  

3:10-4 p.m.  Panel discussion: How to transform your idea into reality  

Hear how these innovators are using their experiences and inventions to build a better tomorrow:

• Arianna T. Morales, Ph.D., Staff Research Scientist, General Motors R&D Center
• Suma Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO, Future Acres 
• David Taubenheim, Senior Data Scientist, NVIDIA 
• Theodore ‘TJ’ Ronningen, Ph.D., Chair, Out to Innovate; Research Scientist, Ohio State University (moderator)

4-4:05 p.m. Wrap-up and resources   

• Sean Wilkerson, Innovation Outreach Program Manager, USPTO 

Arianna T. Morales, Ph.D., Staff Research Scientist, General Motors R&D Center

The sled that steers; Journeys of Innovation series, United States Patent and Trademark Office; December 2021

 Journeys of Innovation series, United States Patent and Trademark Office; The sled that steers

"In the 1880s, Samuel Leeds Allen reinvented winter with the Flexible Flyer, a sled on red steel runners that riders could steer with their hands or feet. A self-taught inventor, Allen knew he’d hit it big when the kids told him so."

Diversity in innovation: Best practices; United States Patent and Trademark Office Webinar: Tuesday, December 7, 2021 12 PM EST - 1 PM EST

United States Patent and Trademark Office Webinar: Tuesday, December 7, 2021 12 PM EST - 1 PM EST; Diversity in innovation: Best practices 

"Join us virtually on Tuesday, December 7 for a presentation on best practices for diversity in innovation, followed by a discussion led by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Midwest Regional Director Damian Porcari.

In 2020, the USPTO collaborated with Santa Clara Law’s High Tech Law Institute (HTLI) to propose a study designed to increase diversity in the patenting process. The study specifically targeted in-house international property (IP) legal departments and their practices. The goal of the study was simple: to harvest the collective knowledge of nationwide IP professionals and to produce a practical guide to fostering a more diverse population of inventors. Join the USPTO and HTLI at this free event to learn more about the Diversity in Innovation Best Practices Guide and the goal of increasing the diversity of inventors within the innovation ecosystem.

The guide is presented in three categories of easy-to-read tables:

• Do it now: Practices that are likely to be budget-neutral, easily implemented, and within the authority of an in-house attorney or IP manager.
• Do it this year: Practices that may require 3–9 months of planning, e.g., because they require coordination with other groups or departments, and/or the creation of content, tools, or systems.
• Do it next year: Practices that will likely take 6–12 months of planning to implement, e.g., because they need to be coordinated with different departments, require moderate or significant budgetary planning, and/or require buy-in from high level management.

Register today to gain insights from the guide's authors from HTLI: Laura Norris and Mary Fuller. An open discussion moderated by Midwest Regional Director Damian Porcari will follow the presentation.

Please see registration page for states where CLE credit is available.

Materials 

• Diversity in Innovation Best Practices Guide"

Biden pressed to support intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines; Marketplace, November 26, 2021

Lily Jamali, Marketplace; Biden pressed to support intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines

"Anne Pritchett, senior vice president with the industry group PhRMA, said that lifting patent waivers for COVID vaccines could backfire in the next global health crisis.

"We don’t want to be deterring innovation by saying to companies, ‘There’s no incentive for you to invest in that, because we’re just going to take your IP and give it away,'” she said. 

Countries in the EU, plus Switzerland and the U.K., support that view."

U.S. Copyright Office Celebrates 150 Years of Fostering American Creativity and Innovation; U.S. Chamber of Commerce, August 4, 2020

Frank Cullen, U.S. Chamber of Commerce;

U.S. Copyright Office Celebrates 150 Years of Fostering American Creativity and Innovation

"Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) joins the U.S. Copyright Office in celebrating its 150th-anniversary as an essential leader in fostering American creativity and innovation.

The office was established during the wake of the Civil War when Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Spofford lobbied and convinced Congress to unify the copyright registration system in the Library of Congress."

Managing Intellectual Property in a Crisis (Part 1); JDSupra, March 31, 2020

Joseph Falcon, III, JDSupra; Managing Intellectual Property in a Crisis (Part 1)

"Businesses are often not aware that they own intellectual property that generally provides the owner exclusionary rights, which are critical to any business that wants to commercialize their product or services in view of competition. Therefore, those companies that appropriately manage intellectual property rights create improved opportunities to protect and exploit these rights as assets, especially in an economic crisis or downturn. Developing and maintaining intellectual property, as a management strategy, has proven to be an effective tool for any company and having such a strategy may be essential for a business to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, especially in today’s economy."

Why the Hulett Unloader Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines; Popular Mechanics, March 3, 2020

Vince Guerrieri, Popular Mechanics; Why the Hulett Unloader Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines

"Hulett, a 2006 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, received more than two dozen patents for various machines in his career. But his most important was Patent No. 652,313A in 1899, for a 92-foot-tall unloading apparatus that could scoop iron ore from a ship’s hold 10 tons at a time—an almost unfathomable number back then, even though more than 13 million tons of ore were shipped on the Great Lakes that year."

On National Inventors’ Day, Celebrating IBM’s Innovators; Forbes, February 11, 2020

Dario Gil, Director of IBM Research, Forbes; On National Inventors’ Day, Celebrating IBM’s Innovators

"It all boils down to the culture, and the diverse global network of human beings who drive it. As Chieko Asakawa, who lost her eyesight at age 14 and went on to pioneer technologies that open the wonders of the Internet to visually impaired users, puts it: “IBM has a culture that respects each person’s own perspective. It’s a culture of listening, discussion and thinking about ideas together.”

Asakawa was recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work to create the Home Page Reader, a web-to-speech system, improving internet accessibility and usability for the visually impaired. 

“When I started working for IBM,” she reflects, “my blindness became my strength.”

And her strength—along with the talent of all her inventive colleagues—is one of IBM’s greatest assets."

Why Is the U.S. Surrendering the Global IP System to China?; National Review, February 12, 2020

Tom Gionvanetti, National Review; Why Is the U.S. Surrendering the Global IP System to China?

"What a coup it will be for China to gain control over the global IP system at the same time that the U.S. is pressuring China over IP theft — and what a monumental miscalculation by those President Trump has trusted to further one of his key foreign-policy goals. Talk about playing the long game vs. the short game.

The election for WIPO’s top spot is on March 7. Candidates for the directorship remain from Japan, Singapore, and Colombia, and all of these would be superior choices from the perspective of the U.S. and other nations that create the kinds of innovative products that are targets of Chinese espionage and theft. But only immediate attention from the White House can prevent WIPO from becoming dominated by China, which would pose risks to the entire global IP system, and thus to U.S. security and innovation."

How This CEO Is Streamlining The Copyright Process For Independent Artists; Forbes, January 27, 2020

Cheryl Robinson, Forbes; How This CEO Is Streamlining The Copyright Process For Independent Artists

"Jessica Sobhraj, cofounder and CEO of Cosynd, is on a mission to be the central hub that creators use to protect their work. The company designed a platform that automates copyright contracts and registrations for independent creators and businesses by working in conjunction with the U.S. Copyright Office. The company has simplified the process of documenting crucial ownership data and filing copyright registrations of all types of content – music, videos, imagery and literature."

Rumored executive order would change landscape of UC subscription partnerships; The Daily Californian, January 30, 2020

Alexandra Casey, The Daily Californian; Rumored executive order would change landscape of UC subscription partnerships

"Prominent Nobel laureate and chief scientific officer of New England Biolabs Rich Roberts has no online access to a paper he co-authored because his institution lacks a subscription to academic journal Nature Microbiology.

Roberts is one of 21 American Nobel laureates who submitted an open letter to President Donald Trump on Monday urging him to approve a rumored plan to make federally funded research free of cost and immediately accessible after publication. UC Berkeley’s Randy Schekman, who founded eLife — an open access scientific journal — led the Nobel laureates in their letter...

“This would effectively nationalize the valuable American intellectual property that we produce and force us to give it away to the rest of the world for free,” according to the letter from the publishers. “This risks reducing exports and negating many of the intellectual property protections the Administration has negotiated with our trading partners.”

The letter added that the cost shift could place an “additional burden” on taxpayers and undermine both the marketplace and American innovation."

It’s Copyright Week 2020: Stand Up for Copyright Laws That Actually Serve Us All; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), January 20, 2020

Katharine Trendacosta, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); It’s Copyright Week 2020: Stand Up for Copyright Laws That Actually Serve Us All

"We're taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, addressing what's at stake and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation...

We continue to fight for a version of copyright that does what it is supposed to. And so, every year, EFF and a number of diverse organizations participate in Copyright Week. Each year, we pick five copyright issues to highlight and advocate a set of principles of copyright law. This year’s issues are:

• Monday: Fair Use and Creativity
  Copyright policy should encourage creativity, not hamper it. Fair use makes it possible for us to comment, criticize, and rework our common culture.
• Tuesday: Copyright and Competition
  Copyright should not be used to control knowledge, creativity, or the ability to tinker with or repair your own devices. Copyright should encourage more people to share, make, or repair things, rather than concentrate that power in only a few players.
• Wednesday: Remedies
  Copyright claims should not raise the specter of huge, unpredictable judgments that discourage important uses of creative work. Copyright should have balanced remedies that also provide a real path for deterring bad-faith claims.
• Thursday: The Public Domain
  The public domain is our cultural commons and a crucial resource for innovation and access to knowledge. Copyright should strive to promote, and not diminish, a robust, accessible public domain.
• Friday: Copyright and Democracy
  Copyright must be set through a participatory, democratic, and transparent process. It should not be decided through back-room deals, secret international agreements, unaccountable bureaucracies, or unilateral attempts to apply national laws extraterritorially.

Every day this week, we’ll be sharing links to blog posts and actions on these topics at https://www.eff.org/copyrightweek and at #CopyrightWeek on Twitter.

As we said last year, and the year before that, if you too stand behind these principles, please join us by supporting them, sharing them, and telling your lawmakers you want to see copyright law reflect them."

Why Patents and Copyrights Matter; Ayn Rand Institute, Janaury 15, 2020

[47 min. Video] Elan Journo, Ayn Rand Institute; Why Patents and Copyrights Matter

"Why do patents and copyrights matter? What do they protect? What to make of the objections against them? For instance: that no one is really hurt by violations of copyrights or patents; or that these rights are obstacles to progress and innovation; or that they’re an unfair, government-granted privilege or favor?   

To explore these issues, I talked to Professor Adam Mossoff, who teaches law at George Mason University. Mossoff is an expert on intellectual property law and policy, who has published extensively in academic journals and popular outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Politico, among many others. He has testified several times before the Senate and the House of Representatives."

UK Government Plans To Open Public Transport Data To Third Parties; Forbes, December 31, 2019

Simon Chandler, Forbes; UK Government Plans To Open Public Transport Data To Third Parties

"The launch is a significant victory for big data. Occasionally derided as a faddish megatrend or empty buzzword, the announcement of the Bus Open Data Service shows that national governments are willing to harness masses of data and use them to create new services and economic opportunities. Similarly, it's also a victory for the internet of things, insofar as real-time data from buses will be involved in providing users with up-to-date travel info.

That said, the involvement of big data inevitably invites fears surrounding privacy and surveillance."

Reflections of John Cabeca, USPTO Silicon Valley Regional Director; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), December 12, 2019

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO);

Reflections of John Cabeca, USPTO Silicon Valley Regional Director

Blog by Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO Laura Peter

"Recently, I spoke with John Cabeca, USPTO Silicon Valley Regional Director in San Jose, California, about his experience at the USPTO and what’s next for him. John is a 30-plus year veteran of the USPTO. He served in numerous key leadership roles throughout his tenure and has dedicated much of his career working with significant customers of the USPTO on IP matters and through outreach and education programs to help small and large businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs. Over the years, he served the USPTO in important roles, including in the Office of Patent Legal Administration, the Office of Governmental Affairs, and most recently in the Office of the Under Secretary as Regional Director of the Silicon Valley. 

LP: How long has the USPTO had a Silicon Valley Regional Office (SV USPTO) and what is its purpose?

JC: The Silicon Valley office formally opened in October 2015 in the San Jose, California City Hall building. The purpose of the USPTO Silicon Valley Regional Office, and, in fact, all of our regional offices, including Detroit, Denver, and Dallas — is to foster and protect innovation. The regional offices carry out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and are responsible for leading the USPTO's regional efforts in their designated regions of the United States. As Regional Director, I actively engage the western region’s unique network of industries and entrepreneurs, and tailor the USPTO’s initiatives and programs to their needs. The regional office serves as a hub of outreach and education and offers services and programs readily accessible to inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses. We also work closely with IP practitioners, community and business leaders, and academic institutions, as well as with federal, state and local governments, to advance the IP needs of the innovation ecosystem throughout the region at all levels.

LP: What states does the SV USPTO cover?
 
JC: The west coast region includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State. Comprising seven states, this is the largest region covering over 1.1 million square miles, as well as some of the most innovative businesses and innovators in the country. In 2019, the west coast region originated more than 37% of all domestic patent applications and 28% of all trademark registrations by U.S. registrants.

LP: How does the public at-large including inventors, entrepreneurs, and brand owners benefit from the SV USPTO?

JC: We are here to help them. We hold events from learning the basics about patents and trademarks, to patent and trademark search workshops, to drafting patent claims, to protecting your IP abroad, to even more advanced IP programs as a CLE provider in the State of California. We welcome walk-ins to our office, will come and speak and educate the public any chance we get about IP, and also have the ability to hold virtual examiner interviews and trial and appeal board hearings in our space. The regional office pages of the USPTO website are constantly updated with new opportunities to visit our offices."