AI is increasingly being embedded across almost every part of an organisation. From software development and customer service to marketing and product innovation, organisations are investing heavily in, and becoming heavily reliant on, AI tools and systems. But as AI adoption grows, so does a familiar pattern: the most valuable assets are often not the … Continue Reading
The EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act requires companies to disclose in certain cases whether content has been created or modified by AI. This also applies to companies that make use of AI such as image-generation programs for product advertising. Given that the new rules are enforceable from 2 August 2026, with fines up to EUR … Continue Reading
As AI systems continue to be adopted at scale, they are increasingly performing tasks carried out by human employees. From drafting documents, to writing code, to handling customer queries and concerns have grown about the economic risks this shift may pose, including job displacement and the erosion of the income taxes generated by human labour. … Continue Reading
In March 2026 the darts phenomenon and reigning World Champion, Luke Littler, applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to register his face as a trade mark in the UK across a variety of different categories [From the Oche to the IPO: can a face function as a trade mark? | Global IP & … Continue Reading
As America celebrates its 250th year, the pulse of innovation that animated the Founders beats louder than ever. From the first patent debates to today’s courtroom clashes over artificial intelligence, George Washington’s legacy as a mill owner, pragmatic leader, and founding architect of the U.S. patent system remains strikingly relevant. Drawing on Washington’s own letters … Continue Reading
In October 2025, UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), published its final decision to designate Google as having strategic market status (SMS) in the UK in general search and search advertising services. This designation covered Google’s substantial and entrenched market power in general search and search advertising, and whilst Google’s Gemini AI tool … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Jonathan Mason for his contributions to this post. In early March, the darts phenomenon and reigning World Champion, Luke Littler, applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office (“IPO”) to register his face as a trade mark in the UK across a variety of different categories from the obvious (class 9 … Continue Reading
As with all industries, agentic AI is already starting to have a dramatic impact on the automotive industry, particularly with regard to:… Continue Reading
As trailed in its progress statement published in December 2025 and discussed in our previous blog, the UK government published on 18 March 2026 its much awaited full report considering the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems. The report follows the government’s high-profile consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence which ran … Continue Reading
As the 2026 Winter Olympics captivate audiences, one sport in particular―curling―stands out as the perfect metaphor for the challenge of prosecuting AI inventions before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Both arenas demand foresight, adaptability, and strategic thinking, whether it’s guiding a stone across the ice or shepherding an AI patent application through evolving … Continue Reading
The French Competition Authority has published Opinion No. 26-A-02 of 18 February 2026, concerning the functioning of competition in the online video content creation sector in France. See the press release The online video content creation sector is now an integral part of the French audiovisual industry, having rapidly grown to over 150,000 professional creators … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Joshua Saunders for his contributions to this post. In February 2025 we reported on the UK government consultation on potential changes to UK copyright legislation in light of AI, Clock is Ticking for Responses to UK Government Consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence | Global IP & Technology Law Blog. … Continue Reading
Meta’s eye-catching end-of-year acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based developer of AI agents, for a purported value of more than $2 billion[1], reflects a wider sector shift towards the development and deployment of semi-autonomous, outcome-focused, software agents, which are capable of performing complex tasks without direct and constant human input. The Meta deal notably follows Salesforce’s … Continue Reading
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—unless you’re Santa and your trade secrets just got swiped by a disgruntled elf with no holiday cheer, wielding powerful magical artificial intelligence (AI) tools like “ElfGPT.” As snow falls over the North Pole and elves frantically race to meet their Christmas Eve deadline, a new kind of … Continue Reading
As readers may recall, in February 2024, the USPTO issued guidance on inventorship in AI-assisted inventions, which we wrote about here. On November 26, 2025, the USPTO rescinded that guidance and replaced it with new guidance. By way of background, the February 2024 Guidance analyzed the naming of inventors for AI-assisted inventions using the Pannu … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2025 the UK High Court handed down its judgment in the case of Getty Images (US) Inc (and others) v Stability AI Limited [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch) [High Court Judgment Template]. The case concerned the training, development and deployment of Stability AI’s “Stable Diffusion” generative AI model and, as one of the … Continue Reading
On August 4, the Deputy Commissioner of Patents issued a memorandum to Examiners on evaluation of claims in software-implemented inventions for subject matter eligibility under Section 101. While the memorandum does not fundamentally change the USPTO’s guidance published in the MPEP, the memorandum does provide useful clues as to how the USPTO and the Examining … Continue Reading
Mike Tyson once said “[e]veryone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” This quote describes the confidence that organizations may have in their existing trade secret plans, until they encounter some of the evolving complexities of trade secret protection in this era of the combination of remote work and artificial intelligence (AI). … Continue Reading
As many will know, the Autonomous Vehicle Act 2024 (the “AV Act”) paved the way to legalising the use of autonomous vehicles on UK roads. However, before any autonomous vehicles can be used on the UK roads (other than under controlled trials), it is important to be aware that the AV Act does not, at … Continue Reading
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into business operations, IT contracts covering the provision of AI systems are evolving to include critical safeguards. One emerging concept is the AI circuit breaker, a contractual mechanism that provides for an intervention, or override, where an AI system exhibits undesirable or harmful behavior. When contracting for AI, businesses … Continue Reading
If you’re a patent practitioner who works with innovation related to artificial intelligence, you’ll want to consider the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox. Corp. This decision is the first to explicitly consider patent eligibility in the context of the use of artificial intelligence. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s … Continue Reading
In October 2024 we reported on the case of Kompakwerk GmbH v Liveperson Netherlands B.V. [CL-2018-000802] which concerned the question of whether an agent selling access to end users in Great Britain to a third-party software as a service (SaaS) product should be considered an agent for the purposes of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations … Continue Reading
In the UK, intellectual property (IP) infringement claims and other disputes in which IP is a major concern can be brought in either the High Court or in many cases the specialist Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC). Based at the Rolls Building in central London, the IPEC has a more streamlined procedure than the High … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Sumaiyah Razzaq for her contributions to this post. Ever since the emergence of generative AI, a major concern for all participants has been the extent to which copyright works can and should be used in training AI models. The application of UK copyright law for this purpose is disputed, leading … Continue Reading
