- July 20, 2021
- Posted by: axiom_admin
- Categories:
Intellectual Property Rights are no more perceived as an independent domain, instead form an essential component of business sector. With large volume of innovations happening across social, economic, artistic, scientific, technological and literary domains, it is very important to save your intellectual ideas from being stolen or misused by others. Intellectual Property protection includes registering your trademark, copyright, patent and industrial design.
Information and Technology sector being comparatively novel compared to other domains is yet to receive more attention with regard to IP protection. UAE with its strong business foundation has real scope for Intellectual property, because no business can go a long way without trademarking its logo, brand name and products or services. The same matters for IT sector where new software technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning needs to be patented.
Let us discuss the challenges related to patenting AI related innovations and how intellectual property rights in UAE is going to support the domain of Artificial Intelligence.
Challenges in executing IP protection
A few years ago, technologies like AI have been considered only as a fiction. But, now with the advancement of quantum computing, AI is a rapidly evolving stream with innovations happening every day. The AI technology will be able to produce many years of human work at one stretch and it is also capable of developing new technologies and innovations of its own. In such cases, it is difficult to figure out the real author and patent the invention.
Intellectual Property protection in the IT domain, especially with regard to software innovations like AI is a relatively new field and very little does software developers know about protecting their IP assets. As per the intellectual property laws, the authorship of an innovation is usually restricted to human beings and does not include machines. Also, there would be even more confusion if two machines developed similar concepts.
Earlier, the standalone algorithms and codes of AI software were not patentable in the GCC. But, as of now, the source codes can be copyrighted. In order to secure its IP rights, the law demands IT developers to protect them with newly written codes. Apart from this, the patentability of an AI innovation depends on the area of its function and hence the system within which the software’s algorithms work together will have to be considered.
These are a few areas that IT developers and IP officials will have to contemplate with the evolution of AI technology.
Possibilities in implementing IP protection for AI innovations
Businesses and Government organizations across UAE have started realizing the importance of AI technology for their services. UAE is the first country in the world to appoint a minister for managing developments in AI sector. The nation has also made a plan to utilize the possibilities of AI in various sectors like health, energy, finance, transport and education.
Recent studies predict AI’s ability to contribute nearly a hundred billion dollar to the UAE economy within next 10 years. Many businesses use AI for advanced customer service like chatbots. Financial services use them to identify fraudulent acts like fake identities and money laundering. Health sector employs AI innovations to diagnose diseases and provide advanced treatment.
A recent report by WIPO records a huge increase in AI related patents in recent years, which can be seen as a positive sign. But, AI being an abstract idea, there are chances of patent applications getting rejected by the government if not filed by a skilled intellectual property lawyer. With AI becoming predominant in all public and private service sectors, it is very important to understand its challenges and protect your innovations with IP laws.
Conclusion
While there are many ambiguities regarding the application of IP Rights on Artificial Intelligence, with the advancement of time, it is obvious that IP laws will evolve to include protection of complex software technologies. This will enable IT developers to acquire best ways for protecting their software with IP rights.
As Intellectual property protection for AI technology is a very complex matter, it needs great expertise in the field of IP laws to secure your AI innovations under IP rights. At Axiom Mark, our team of experienced lawyers in the field of IP protection, with in-depth knowledge on copyright, trademark and patent registration in UAE will help you to patent your software and secure your business with minimum effort from your end.
