This Week in Washington IP: Addressing the Right to Repair, the Geopolitics of Generative AI, and Developing Quantum-Ready Systems

This week in Washington IP news, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on IP tackles the thorny issue of whether technological protective measures for copyrighted software should be reined in to protect Americans’ right to repair their own vehicles and devices. On Wednesday, the Senate Small Business Committee will explore a couple of bills related to the Small Business Administration’s grant programs for innovative tech developers. Elsewhere, Brookings Institution explores national security concerns posed by generative AI platforms, and the Center for Strategic & International Studies explores the potential reauthorization of the law directing national policy on supporting quantum computing development.

Tuesday, July 18

House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation

Man and Machine: Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield

At 9:00 AM on Tuesday, 2118 Rayburn House Office Building and online livestream.

On Tuesday morning, the House Armed Services’ tech and innovation subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss applications for artificial intelligence (AI) in battlefield technologies as well as the risks of AI, including developments by foreign adversaries. The witness panel for this hearing will include Alexandr Wang, CEO, Scale AI; Klon Kitchen, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; and Dr. Haniyeh Mahmoudian, Global AI Ethicist, DataRobot.

House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet

Is There a Right to Repair?

At 10:00 AM on Tuesday, 2141 Rayburn and online livestream.

While technological measures to protect copyrighted software have been a boon to technological advancement in many industries, right to repair advocates have been gaining momentum in advancing legislation both at the state and the federal level. The witness panel for this hearing will include Aaron Perzanowski, Thomas W. Lacchia Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School; Devlin Hartline, Legal Fellow, Hudson Institute’s Forum for Intellectual Property; Kyle Wiens, Co-Founder and CEO, iFixit; Paul Roberts, Founder, SecuRepairs.org, and Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Security Ledger; and Scott Benavidez, Chairman, Automotive Service Association, and Owner, Mr. B’s Paint & Body Shop.

Center for Strategic & International Studies

The Future of Quantum – Developing a System Ready for Quantum

At 11:30 AM on Tuesday, in-person and online livestream.

Five years ago, Congress enacted the National Quantum Initiative Act to establish a federal plan for advancing the state of quantum information science and technology. In 2023, our nation’s legislature is set to debate the reauthorization of this bill, which will shape the near future of quantum-centric supercomputing. This event will feature a discussion on deployment of quantum-ready systems with Dr. Darío Gil, Senior VP and Director of Research, IBM; and James A. Lewis, Senior VP, Pritzker Chair, and Director, Strategic Technologies Program, CSIS.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Trademark Basics Boot Camp, Module 2: Registration Process Overview

At 2:00 PM on Tuesday, online webinar.

This webinar, the second module of the USPTO’s eight-part Trademark Basics Boot Camp series, focuses on the overall process of registering for trademark rights at the agency. Topics covered during this session include application workflows, an overview of the registration timeline, and an overview of post-registration workflows.

Wednesday, July 19

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Business Meeting

At 3:00 PM on Wednesday, SR-428A Russell Senate Office Building.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will hold a business meeting to discuss a series of 25 legislative proposals, many of which would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish or improve programs for American businesses. These bills include S. 1739, the Small Business Innovation Voucher Act of 2023, which would establish a competitive innovation grant program at the SBA to distribute funds to small business concerns advancing a novel product or service; and S. 3109, the Research Advancing to Market Production (RAMP) for Innovators Act, which would improve commercialization efforts for companies receiving grant funding from the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs. The RAMP for Innovators Act would also require the SBA and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to collaborate on aiding STTR and SBIR grant recipients with intellectual property protection.

Brookings Institution

The Geopolitics of Generative AI

At 3:00 PM on Wednesday, online livestream.

The advent of generative AI platforms is already enabling incredible increases in productivity for many industries, but these technologies also carry grave national security concerns. The production of deepfake videos, like the fake video of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) distributed on Twitter this February, can help disinformation campaigns thrive. These platforms also increase concerns surrounding critical data security and intellectual property protection. This event will feature a panel discussion with Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director, Stanford University Cyber Policy Center, and International Policy Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI; Samm Sacks, Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center, Yale Law School, and Cyber Policy Fellow, New America; Chris Meserole, Director, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, and Fellow, Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology; and moderated by Jessica Brandt, Policy Director, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, and Fellow, Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology.

Thursday, July 20

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The Path to a Patent, Part II: Drafting Provisional Patent Applications

At 2:00 PM on Thursday, online webinar.

This webinar, the second module of the USPTO’s Path to a Patent series, focuses on issues related to drafting provisional patent applications for filing at the agency. Topics covered during this webinar include key differences between provisional and non-provisional patent applications as well as filing requirements for provisional patent applications.

Image Source: Deposit Photos
Image ID: 15257991
Author: kzlobastov