Understanding IP Matters: ‘AI Adoption Moves at the Speed of Trust’

The value of intellectual property (IP) rights has decreased in the United States over the past 20 years because large tech companies consider patents and copyrights an enemy, not an ally, and because of the difficulty SMEs and independent creators have generating sufficient economic return.

But when different stakeholder groups come together, they can develop an equitable and inclusive IP system that moves society forward while supporting their respective business agendas. These are the beliefs of Daryl Lim, a leader in understanding the global IP community.

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On the current episode of Understanding IP Matters (UIPM), returning guest Professor Daryl Lim discuses how artificial intelligence (AI) and IP can complement each other, for the advancement of both. Rather than viewing AI and IP through the lens of dollars and cents, Lim believes a more sustainable, broader, inclusive system can result in broader and more lasting progress.

Lim is the H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, and Founding Director, Intellectual Property Law and Innovation Initiative at Penn State Dickinson Law School.  He is a founding member of the Global IP Alliance, and is an award-winning author, observer, and commentator on global IP and competition policy trends and how they influence and are influenced by law, technology, economics, and politics.

In this episode of “Understanding IP Matters,” Lim and host Bruce Berman discuss:

• The future of AI – “I think the future of IP lies in getting the rules of AI right,” says Lim, “and the rules of AI lie in getting IP right… IP leadership means by definition that you are ahead and not behind… a leader sets the agenda.”
• On the adoption of technologies, like AI and blockchain, Lim says, “I think it needs to be invisible. So, you and I are speaking, and we don’t really think too much about the technology…We don’t need to know how blockchain works in order to use it. We need to trust it.”  He adds that trust will generate speedy adoption.
• China’s IP system is not perfect, but Lim believes that “If you look at certain matrices, they’re already ahead of the U.S. in terms of the activity in the patent and trademark space …They have a massive cottage industry supported by state money or state-owned enterprises that pegs performance and leadership… to how many patents you produce.”
• Lim says it is important to remember that not all large tech companies seek to discredit patents; that some companies value IP rights and regulations, like Microsoft, and this type of thinking makes them stronger.
• Lim tells Berman that the threshold to seek protection for copyrights and patent patents should be low. “If the threshold is so high that you don’t know whether you can get it in the first place, then people are going to look abroad. Capital is fluid, and they’re going to see which other countries are encouraging about IP protection.”
• Lim concludes that the most encouraging places for IP rights today are “actually not many Western countries.”