IP RIGHTS AND AI - THE IMPACT OF THE NEW EU AI ACT AND PROSPECTS OF FUTURE LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTIONS

Abstract

The paper examines what will be the impact of the EU AI Act, once adopted, on certain intellectual property rights (IPR) related areas in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems might pose challenges. Several areas identified as being challenged by the application of AI are analyzed: ownership and authorship of works generated by the AI system or with the help of the AI system; protecting technology underlying an AI system with IP rights; protection of IP rights of third parties when training and operating an AI system (IP rights might be infringed by training an AI system on IP protected content, as well as while operating an AI system when AI systems generates content which is IPR infringing or where an AI system acts as an intermediary whose services are used to infringe IP rights) and the influence of the application of AI on the well-established legal standards. By examining whether the AI Act addresses or might be used to help solving the outstanding issues in each area identified, the paper further suggests where adoption of new legislation in the IP field might be called for and expected.