“Digitalization and Intellectual Property” – Article by patent attorney Nils T. F. Schmid in German government consulting booklet on “Artificial intelligence”

Progressive digitalization – combined with artificial intelligence (AI) as well as growing computer capacities – is changing our lives permanently and is without doubt the central challenge for industries in the years to come.
However, what on the one hand offers a great opportunity for the protection and commercialization of intellectual property, on the other hand also poses the considerable risk of circumvention of IP rights and thus for undesired imitation. Furthermore, the question arises as to whether and how a distinction can be drawn between works of art or inventions generated by artificial intelligence and those created by humans. This question is of central importance for German law and prosecution, as the German idea of intellectual property is based on the idea of an author or inventor, and more strictly so than in any other country.

BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT patent attorney Nils T. F. Schmid addresses these issues in his article “Digitalization and Intellectual Property” in the information brochure of the Innovation Commission of the Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (Bundesverband für Wirtschaftsförderung und Außenwirtschaft BWA) on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence”.
Using the example of 3D printing, Mr Schmid looks at how 3D printing could influence intellectual property protection strategies and which legal issues will come to the fore as a result.
In the second part of the article, Nils T. F. Schmid deals in detail with the demarcation of AI-generated inventions against human-created works as well as with the resulting questions regarding patent protection for AI inventions and their ownership.

The article “Digitalization and Intellectual Property”, which appeared in the aforementioned BWA brochure “Innovation”, may be accessed here as a PDF in German.