• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Montreal AI Ethics Institute

Montreal AI Ethics Institute

Democratizing AI ethics literacy

  • Articles
    • Public Policy
    • Privacy & Security
    • Human Rights
      • Ethics
      • JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
    • Climate
    • Design
      • Emerging Technology
    • Application & Adoption
      • Health
      • Education
      • Government
        • Military
        • Public Works
      • Labour
    • Arts & Culture
      • Film & TV
      • Music
      • Pop Culture
      • Digital Art
  • Columns
    • AI Policy Corner
    • Recess
  • The AI Ethics Brief
  • AI Literacy
    • Research Summaries
    • AI Ethics Living Dictionary
    • Learning Community
  • The State of AI Ethics Report
    • Volume 7 (November 2025)
    • Volume 6 (February 2022)
    • Volume 5 (July 2021)
    • Volume 4 (April 2021)
    • Volume 3 (Jan 2021)
    • Volume 2 (Oct 2020)
    • Volume 1 (June 2020)
  • About
    • Our Contributions Policy
    • Our Open Access Policy
    • Contact
    • Donate

Submission to World Intellectual Property Organization on IP & AI

August 6, 2020

Full paper in PDF formDownload

Based on insights from the Montreal AI Ethics Institute (MAIEI) staff and supplemented by workshop contributions from the AI Ethics community convened by MAIEI on July 5, 2020.

Intro

This document posits that, at best, a tenuous case can be made for providing AI exclusive IP over their “inventions”. Furthermore, IP protections for AI are unlikely to confer the benefit of  ensuring regulatory compliance. Rather, IP protections for AI “inventors” present a host of negative externalities and obscures the fact that the genuine inventor, deserving of IP, is the human agent. This document will conclude by recommending strategies for WIPO to bring IP law into the 21st century, enabling it to productively account for AI “inventions”.

Full paper in PDF formDownload
Want quick summaries of the latest research & reporting in AI ethics delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to the AI Ethics Brief. We publish bi-weekly.

Primary Sidebar

🔍 SEARCH

Spotlight

ALL IN Conference 2025: Four Key Takeaways from Montreal

Beyond Dependency: The Hidden Risk of Social Comparison in Chatbot Companionship

AI Policy Corner: Restriction vs. Regulation: Comparing State Approaches to AI Mental Health Legislation

Beyond Consultation: Building Inclusive AI Governance for Canada’s Democratic Future

AI Policy Corner: U.S. Executive Order on Advancing AI Education for American Youth

related posts

  • AI Chatbots: The Future of Socialization

    AI Chatbots: The Future of Socialization

  • A Taxonomy of Foundation Model based Systems for Responsible-AI-by-Design

    A Taxonomy of Foundation Model based Systems for Responsible-AI-by-Design

  • Robustness and Usefulness in AI Explanation Methods

    Robustness and Usefulness in AI Explanation Methods

  • Editing Personality for LLMs

    Editing Personality for LLMs

  • Research summary: Principles alone cannot guarantee ethical AI

    Research summary: Principles alone cannot guarantee ethical AI

  • Human-Algorithm Collaboration: Achieving Complementarity and Avoiding Unfairness

    Human-Algorithm Collaboration: Achieving Complementarity and Avoiding Unfairness

  • The Social Contract for AI

    The Social Contract for AI

  • Governing AI to Advance Shared Prosperity

    Governing AI to Advance Shared Prosperity

  • The struggle for recognition in the age of facial recognition technology

    The struggle for recognition in the age of facial recognition technology

  • An Introduction to Corporate Digital Responsibility

    An Introduction to Corporate Digital Responsibility

Partners

  •  
    U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) at NIST

  • Partnership on AI

  • The LF AI & Data Foundation

  • The AI Alliance

Footer


Articles

Columns

AI Literacy

The State of AI Ethics Report


 

About Us


Founded in 2018, the Montreal AI Ethics Institute (MAIEI) is an international non-profit organization equipping citizens concerned about artificial intelligence and its impact on society to take action.

Contact

Donate


  • © 2025 MONTREAL AI ETHICS INSTITUTE.
  • This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  • Learn more about our open access policy here.
  • Creative Commons License

    Save hours of work and stay on top of Responsible AI research and reporting with our bi-weekly email newsletter.