Japan Patent Office Mulls Revising Laws to Cope With Digital Tech; Would Block Patent, Design Rights Over Misuse of AI

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, November 5, 2024

The Japan Patent Office is considering legal revisions to prevent intellectual property infringement stemming from the growth of digital technologies, including generative artificial intelligence and virtual spaces.

The proliferation of AI-generated designs could interfere with the development of new products.

According to the JPO, the current Patent Law and Design Law do not have any regulations to cope with the proliferation of materials produced or designed by AI. The revisions — which are expected next fiscal year or later —- would not allow businesses or individuals who do not plan to develop products to obtain patent or design rights if they misuse generative AI.

The revised laws are expected to regulate any act that hampers the development of new products. One example could be making AI learn existing products without permission to create and then release a massive amount of designs for cars, home appliances and other goods, or chemical formulas for medicines. Such an act would take away the novelty of such designs and formulas.

Under the current Design Law, design rights do not apply in virtual spaces, in principle, allowing brand-name accessories to be reproduced and sold without permission as “items” in the metaverse, a virtual online space.

By revising the law, the JPO aims to prevent unlicensed items from being reproduced.

The current Patent Law recognizes patent rights only within Japan but not overseas. Amid these circumstances, patent rights are not applied, in principle, to technologies that require terminal-server connections — such as search services and automated driving — if the server is located overseas.

There have been court precedents, however, in which patent infringement was recognized over a service that was deemed to have been effectively developed in Japan. Therefore, a service with only its server located overseas may become subject to regulation after the law is revised.

The JPO will hold an expert meeting Wednesday to begin discussions on revising the Patent Law. A similar panel meeting is also planned for the Design Law.