Representatives of the world’s five largest IP offices met during the third week of January in order to better coordinate their response to AI and emerging technologies.

Launched last year, the IP5 Task Force on New Emerging Technologies and Artificial Intelligence (incorporating IP offices from China, Europe, Japan, Korea, US, and joined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)) explores the “legal, technical and policy aspects of new technologies and AI, their impact on the patent system and on operations at our five offices,” according to an official statement.

The aim is to pinpoint which areas can most benefit from joint IP5 responses, ranging from employing AI to improve the patent grant process, to applying the patentability requirements to inventions in the field of AI, and handling applications for inventions created by machines.

“We hope to learn from each other and help each other,” said Daewon Lee, director of the international cooperation division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). The gathering, held in Berlin on January 15-16, was the first joint task force meeting since the group’s inception at an IP5 event in June last year.

“This task force is the IP5 offices’ first joint response to a changing global patenting landscape and evolving user needs in the field,” said Christoph Ernst, vice president, legal and international affairs, European Patent Office (EPO).

“New emerging technologies and AI touch upon almost every aspect of daily life, and question traditional models around knowledge flows and decision-making. This translates into considerable challenges in IP, and the task force is a chance for us to demonstrate that we are agile and responsive to change,” added Ernst.

Source: World IP Review