WASHINGTON — The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today released a report titled “Public Views on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy.” It takes a comprehensive look at a wide variety of stakeholder views on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) across the intellectual property (IP) landscape, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret policy, as well as developing issues about database protection. The new report represents the agency’s firm commitment to keeping pace with this rapidly changing and critical technology in order to accelerate American innovation.

"On February 11, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13859 announcing the American Artificial Intelligence Initiative, our nation’s strategy on artificial intelligence," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. "As artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, the United States will not cede leadership in global innovation. The Department of Commerce recognizes the importance of harnessing American ingenuity to advance and protect our economic security."

"The USPTO has long been committed to ensuring our nation maintains its leadership in all areas of innovation, especially in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence," said Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. "We appreciate the thoughtful comments our stakeholders have made to assist the USPTO in this endeavor. We will continue to work closely with the innovation community and experts in AI to encourage innovation and to strengthen the predictability and reliability of IP rights relating to AI technology. We want to ensure that significant innovation in and around this critical area continues."

"New AI technologies demand careful consideration in light of current intellectual property laws," added Laura Peter, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO. To that end, the USPTO proactively solicited public input through two formal Requests for Comments published in the Federal Register. In response, the agency received approximately 200 unique comments from a broad range of experts in foreign patent offices, bar associations, trade associations, academia, law firms, and companies in the electronics, software, automobile, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.

As the report indicates, the majority of commenters believe the U.S. legal system is well equipped to handle the emerging issues raised by AI. However, many commented that the USPTO and IP stakeholders must keep a close eye on legal and scientific developments in AI to ensure the United States keeps up with this critical technology.

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