By Suryansh Mishra and Sumayirrah Verma
Introduction
The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) is speeding up and creating tremendous challenges to intellectual property law. This article examines the issues of authorship and ownership and whether AI creations are patentable. It may be known that blockchain ensures a stable and good prospect in managing IPs, but issues concerning fake digital assets still prevail. IoT devices produce useful data, and at the same time, raise privacy concerns.
Authorship of AI-Generated Works
The idea of an author which is based on human creativity and novelty is problematic when it comes to AI works. Authorship of AI-created work: For a one-of-a-kind work of art created, by an AI system, who or what is the author? Who is between the human programmer of the AI, the AI system itself, and the entity in control of the AI responsible?
That is why courts and lawmakers are struggling with it. However, others believe that the human programmer is the author of the system because they designed it and taught the AI what to do. Some of them claim that the authorship status must be given to the AI system because it is capable of developing exclusive text. However, this generates questions about the legal nature of an AI system and its ability to bear rights or legal responsibilities.
Copyright Protection for AI-generated Works
Other tricky questions that were raised include whether or not AI-generated works can be protected by copyright laws. Copyright law usually provides for protection where the work is authored by a human being. Still, the continuing development of intelligent systems may present the necessity to extend the definition of an author of such work to AI-generated ones.
Another possible solution is to draw a new category of ‘computer-produced works’, which, in the author’s opinion, can be protected provided they are original and possess a certain amount of authorship. Another way of looking at the situation is asking for copyright protection as the lawful work of creating and developing artificial intelligence masterpieces belongs to a human programmer.
Patent Eligibility of AI Inventions
Another contentious issue is the ability of the creation of Inventions relating to AI to be patented. Historically, owners’ rights status upon grant as well as the general patent system tends to focus on human intellect in the inventive process. However, it can also be seen that as a range of options is shifted to the area where AI systems develop new and nonobvious solutions, the criteria for the definition of the subjects of patenting may also expand.
One difficulty that tends to arise is in trying to decide if an invention made by AI is indeed inventive or non-obvious. This may include an assessment of just how autonomous the inventive process is, and to what degree the output of the AI system is able to be characterized as a creative product.
Blockchain and Intellectual Property: A New Paradigm
Blockchain is an innovative technology which can be valuable for improvements in IP management and protection because of features like decentralization, non-comparability and openness. This way, the blockchain can solve most of the problems that are related to the usage of traditional systems for the management of IPs.
Proof of Ownership
Another advantage of blockchain, in particular, is the durability of the records concerning the owners of intellectual properties. This can be especially useful in the case of digital assets – items which can be easily replicated and duplicated. The essence of recording ownership details on a blockchain makes it challenging for any person to forge ownership documents.
Licensing and royalty management
As we have seen, smart contract is a form of ‘self-executing contract’ where all the contractual terms are coded as computer code and can be released on an enterprise blockchain for licensing agreements, royalties and enforcement. This can help to lower the cost of doing transactions, increase efficiency and minimize conflict.
Anti-Counterfeiting
It also can be implemented in Supply Chain Management since it provides an opportunity to trace the origin of products and materials, which can help fight against fakes. When one traces the history of a particular product, it becomes easy to tell whether or not it is an original product since it is accompanied by records of its production, manufacture and distribution.
IoT and Intellectual Property: A Data-Driven Challenge
The Internet of Things (IoT) defines the world consisting of devices that gather and share information. Various issues and opportunities are associated with copyright and patent protection of IoT devices, which includes data protection, standards, and management of the IoT ecosystem.
Data Privacy and Security
IoT devices use data to function and this data can be the personal data of an individual subject thus the question of data protection. It is important to safeguard IP rights that arsenic being connected to this data. Organizations must have proper security to protect their data from leakage and also have to come up with proper ways of providing security.
IoT Standards and Intellectual Property
IoT brings the standards development, which is created by multiple stakeholders; this gives the right to claim for an IP issue. For instance, there might be certain disagreements on ownership of crucial patents or what must be done in order to achieve licenses.
Intellectual Property in IoT Ecosystems
It is common to find that an IoT ecosystem will engage several parties, yet all bring in some form of intellectual property. The non-centralised and poly-centric nature of these ecosystems requires that the outlines of ownership and licensing are clear. This makes it necessary that there must be proper negotiation of the recognition of intellectual property rights.
Specific Examples of AI, Blockchain, and IoT in IP
- AI-generated music: There is growing interest in the work itself including how artists and music labels can use AI to generate new compositions. It brings into question who is the author and who owns the copyright to such a creation?
- Blockchain-based NFT marketplaces: They can also interactively be used as Referenced Tokens for the ownership of digital assets such as art pieces, music albums or collectables. When trading in NFTs, the use of blockchain technology serves as a secure and transparent place for the transaction to occur.
- IoT-enabled devices: Smart devices like home appliances, wearables or other device may also have the capability to acquire personal data. Great care should be taken to ensure that the IPs attached to this data are protected from access or misuse by unauthorized persons.
Trends and factors for further consideration
Therefore, it is possible to conclude that all the opportunities and challenges connected with IP will be far more complicated as AI; blockchain and IoT will continue to unfold. This will make it imperative for lawmakers, lawyers and commerce to keep abreast with new developments or be ready to shift base as new standards are developed.
International Cooperation
- Harmonization of IP Laws: Setting up general rules and regulations concerning the manner of protection of IPs in connection with advanced technologies can assist in consistent and accurate outcomes in different countries.
- Cross-border Enforcement: Measures for international cooperation may help decrease levels of piracy, counterfeiting and other ’IP infringements’, which are usually carried out on the international level.
Ethical Considerations
- Bias and Discrimination: Inherent in the AI systems are biases in the data used in training the system, and this bias may also be taught. This renders such procedures prejudiced, coarsened notably in areas that include employment, credit, and even outcries for justice.
- Privacy and Surveillance: The use of these IoT devices infringes on the privacy of users, as well as contributes to surveillance. That is why it is critically important to have rules and legislation which would be binding toward specific protection of the privacy of individuals.
- Intellectual Property Misuse: As has been described above, AI can be harnessed to create deepfakes and many other instances of other types of intellectual property theft. There is a need to produce numerous measures that are aimed at fighting these threats effectively.
Technological Advancements
- AI Generative Models: As generative models of artificial intelligence progress in sophistication, new issues related to authorship, copyright, and patent eligibility will arise through large language models and image generators.
- Blockchain Interoperability: The interoperability of various blockchain networks can spark seamless sharing or trading of the corresponding digital assets such as intellectual property.
- IoT Security: Enhancing the security of IoT devices and networks is crucial since product IP rights linked to the data generated depend on the devices that require protection.
Essentials of Future Trends Illustrated by Real Life Scenarios
- AI-generated deepfakes: Deepfakes are real-looking synthetic media which can be employed to rearrange or even engender fake content. And this brings about issues of copyright infringements, defamation and violation of privacy. For instance, deepfakes can be applied in the case of dissemination of fake news or in immoral imitation of a certain person.
- Blockchain-based decentralized marketplaces: The use of blockchain technology can also be extended to creating systems that enable decentralized markets for trading of the above assets. This can challenge conventional forms of IP licensing and distribution services. For instance, artists could sell the artwork directly to consumers through the distributed markets which are created on the blockchain.
- IoT-enabled devices and data privacy: As the adoption of IoT increases, there will always be inconsistent data protection and security. It is crucial to protect the IP linked to IoT data to ensure that it cannot be accessed or used by a third party. For instance, organizations may require stringent measures of securing the data collected by the IoT in question to avert leakage of people’s personal details.
Legislative Changes in Response to AI, Blockchain, and IoT
In the last five years, due to the advancement in AI, blockchain, ions, and IoT, there has been a need to give legal responses in many jurisdictions. Here are some examples of legislative developments in different countries:
United States
- Copyright Law: The Copyright Office has provided that AI content is protectable if it presents a human author’s creative work. It has not however become an issue which has been completely solved and needs any more legislative or judicial action.
- Patent Law: Currently, the eligibility of a particular AI invention is a crucial problem, and for this reason, the USPTO has released best practices on the issue of AI inventions, based on the principles of inventiveness and non-obviousness. Instead, the parameters of allowable subject matters which is the eligible matter for a patent remain more or less in the process of change.
- Data Privacy: CCPA and GDPR are policies that set high requirements for the processing and collecting of personal data by any businesses involved in the processing. All these laws have implications for companies that employ IoT devices.
European Union
- Copyright Directive: Officially, the EU Copyright Directive was approved in 2019, and it introduced new legal powers for authors and performers as well as the right for producers to receive pay from online services using the authors’ work. It has relevance to the interaction of the public and posts containing syntheses AI-generated content on the various microblogs social networking websites.
- AI Regulation: Currently, the EU is in the process of constructing a broad AI regulation, which will act as a framework for those utilizing the AI systems as well as those who build them. Some of the issues that this regulation is believed to cover include transparency, accountability as well as protection of data.
China
- Cybersecurity Law: Currently China has a Cybersecurity law that hosts various restrictions regarding data localization and security for organizations in China. This has clear and far-reaching implications for IoT devices and for cloud-based applications.
- AI Development Plan: China has unveiled a national AI development plan for China to become among the world’s leading countries in the AI industry by 2030. Some of the strategies herein are meant to allow for the support of AI research, development, and deployment.
India
- Personal Data Protection Bill: India at the moment is nurturing the Personal Data Protection Bill as the backbone of its regulation of personal data. Many experts are speculating that this bill will have a major impact on the evolution of IoT devices and any technology involving data processing.
- National Policy on Artificial Intelligence: India has set a course by formulating the National Policy on Artificial Intelligence to encourage fresh work in AI research, development, and application. This policy also includes several measures for treating the ethical and legal issues of artificial intelligence.
Conclusion
The issues of Intellectual Property (IP) face great challenges due to the rapidly increasing technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT). AI-generated works cause controversies on authorship, ownership rights as well as on the patentability of the works emanating from such technologies. Although, blockchain is useful for secure IP management, it has constraints such as fake digital assets. The IoT produces significant informative material, however, it poses privacy risks.
Automated intelligent systems are today able to come up with original work, with regards to copyright, this is alarming. Courts and lawmakers grapple with determining who should be considered the author: the human programmer, the AI itself or the owner of the AI maybe it concentrates more on the latter two. Ownership of creations by AI is also a contentious subject, this is because the laws and policies existing in the world today require input from a human.
The present technological development can thus be seen as having a lot of potential for making IP management and protection far better and more efficient by means of blockchain technology. It can provide actual physical evidence of possession which makes licensing and royalties easier while containing faking.
Smart devices are a topic of increased debate on issues of privacy and security because most of them process personal data. What is more important is the protection of the IP rights connected with this data. The establishment of standards and especially the control over the management of IoT ecosystems also include aspects of IP.
The law regulating IP within the frame of emerging technologies is currently in the state of development. Most legal systems are either discussing or setting up new legislation to respond to the issues and possibilities of AI, blockchain, and IoT. The other one is legal compliance with international actors to have legal regulations that will create more standard rules.
The ethical concern of these technologies cannot be underscored more especially when designing and implementing such technologies. The introduction of biases discriminative features, and privacy concerns is critical when employing AI, blockchain, and IoT.
The trend indicates that technological development will persist to influence the development of Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of things. The next levels of evolution in AI generative models, better integration of blockchain, and stronger security in the systems of the Internet of Things shall be pursued.
These changes are relevant to every business, requiring an update of firms’ IP strategies and risk management regarding AI, blockchain, and IoT. This consists of having plans of how to deal with an IP portfolio, ways to transform this IP value, and risks that these technologies come with them.
Therefore, by analysing the effects emerging in connection with the combination of AI, blockchain and IoT systems, it is possible to outline the main threats and opportunities for the existence and protection of patents. Therefore, the transition to these new technologies will be safe and their deployment will be sound because the legal/ethical and technological issues will be considered during design.
Sumayirrah Verma is a third-year law student at Symbiosis International University. She is passionate about law and is dedicated to exploring contemporary issues in the field of IPR.
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