Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest-moving and most legally complex areas in intellectual property (IP) today.

Artificial Intelligence IP Counsel

AI encompasses systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. As AI technologies evolve rapidly, so do the legal questions about their protection.

HRFM's attorneys have drafted and prosecuted patent applications directed to a wide range of AI innovations, and we understand the increasingly complicated world of AI IP.

Contact us to start the conversation.

AI Technologies in HRFM's Patent Practice

Our attorneys have drafted and prosecuted patent applications in AI technologies including the following:

• Cloud resource optimization
• Cloud hosting orchestration
• Automated software debugging
• Data integrity
• Database management and query optimization
• Systems emulation
• Virtual and augmented reality
• Robotic systems automation
• Cybersecurity and malware detection
• Chatbot implementation and optimization
• Large language model (LLM) implementation and optimization
• Training and implementation of generative AI models
• Medical diagnostics and treatment definitions
• Industrial process optimization

Navigating AI Patent Eligibility

AI-related inventions face heightened scrutiny in the patent prosecution process, particularly relating to §101 subject matter eligibility, §112 enablement and §112 written description. HRFM attorneys employ multifaceted strategies for overcoming eligibility rejections, drawing on experience across hundreds of patent applications.

These strategies involve a thorough understanding of recitations that examiners and courts may recognize as improvements in technology under U.S. law. They also reflect extensive knowledge of U.S. Patent Office requirements for presenting a proper eligibility rejection.

Our professionals remain informed about how AI affects foreign filings, shaping filing strategies and drafting with foreign counter-parting in mind. We also work with you during drafting to develop disclosure language that we can later cite to support patentability arguments.

HRFM is regularly featured in rankings of U.S. patent law firms in software-related arts:

• Juristat Top Patent Firms in TC 2100 | 2021 Rankings
• Juristat Top Firms in Tech Center 2100 | Computer Architecture Software and Information Security
• Juristat Best Firms at Overcoming Alice Rejections

AI Inventorship: A Changing Legal Landscape

HRFM attorneys are constantly monitoring how the level of AI involvement may influence the proper designation of "inventor" in this fast-paced arena.

The Federal Circuit has held that "inventors" must be human beings.

However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has maintained that "a natural person who merely recognizes and appreciates the output of an AI system as an invention, particularly when the properties and utility of the output are apparent to those of ordinary skill, is not necessarily an inventor."

See the following resources for further information:

• Thaler v. Vidal, 43 F.4^th 1207, 1210 (Fed. Cir. 2022)
• Federal Register, Vol. 89, No. 30, February 13, 2024

Copyright Protection in AI-Assisted Works

HRFM's AI practice group also helps you procure copyright protection in AI-assisted works. The U.S. Copyright Office has been issuing guidance on this shifting area.

Our attorneys closely follow how the level of AI involvement influences which elements of an AI-assisted work are copyrightable.

Partner With HRFM's AI Practice Group

From eligibility challenges to inventorship questions, our attorneys are equipped to navigate the full maze of AI IP. With offices in Albany and Rochester, HRFM is upstate New York's largest IP law firm.

Contact us to discuss your AI IP needs, or search our attorneys to find the right professional for your work.