AI dominates global IP debate at INTA conference in London

Artificial intelligence (AI) dominated discussions at the International Trademark Association (INTA) annual meeting in London, highlighting the rapid global changes in the intellectual property (IP) landscape.
The meeting underscored the different jurisdictions’ approaches to AI-generated works, particularly the requirement of human authorship for copyright protection in the U.S. compared to more flexible approaches elsewhere.
The European Unified Patent Court (UPC), now two years old, has significantly altered patent litigation in Europe and is influencing disputes globally.
There was a noted emphasis on China’s efforts to become a dominant venue for resolving worldwide IP disputes, with recent conflicts between Chinese and U.K. courts over standard-essential patents.
Privacy law, specifically stricter EU and U.K. data privacy and discovery rules, was another major focus, providing interesting comparison insights for foreign litigators and contrasting sharply with U.S. practices.
The conference highlighted the increasingly international nature of intellectual property practice, fostering networking among attorneys involved in cross-border disputes.
While firms cautiously use AI tools to enhance efficiency, they do not permit AI to conduct unsupervised legal research or drafting for their technical and nuanced work.