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20 October 2020PatentsMuireann Bolger

Five minutes with… Anita Shaw, IBM

Ahead of her participation in the inaugural webinar for WIPR  Patents Live, Anita Shaw, IP law counsel at IBM explored inventorship and artificial intelligence (AI), the implications for IP and why working in the industry is a privilege.

As its importance grows, AI has become the focus of many policymakers and researchers around the world. AI and its related subfields, such as machine learning, are seminal developments which have transformed the technology landscape.

However, the role of AI in technology and what this means legally, has emerged as one of the most pivotal and debated issues within the IP field. Professor of law and health science at the University of Surrey, and lead of the artificial inventor project, Ryan Abbott has previously told WIPR, that the present legal framework constrains AI.

Shaw, along with Jochen Friedrich, technical relations executive at IBM will join WIPR  Patents Live today, October 20, to explore AI developments and IP from IBM’s perspective ( watch here).

WIPR: What are you most looking forward to talking about during your upcoming WIPR Patents Live webinar?

AS: Sharing some of the exciting tech and IP AI initiatives that IBM is involved in, but especially, presenting side by side with my internal client, Jochen Friedrich!

What key developments do you see emerging in AI in the coming years that will impact IP?

Although AI is a subset of the general computing field, its use and development raises several issues in the IP and broader spaces, some of which are particular to AI.

I think it will be interesting to see how IP offices and other bodies develop their thinking on issues, such as inventorship by AI, but also more broadly than that, including areas such as liability, ethics, transparency, etc.

Moving forward, before enacting any changes to policy and legislation, it's going to be key to ensure that stakeholders from relevant parts of the community, for example, those in technical sectors, business as well as legal spheres, are consulted and that developments across jurisdictions are tracked so that a level of consistency and harmonisation can be achieved.

What is the best part of your job?

IP is at the heart of innovation! As an attorney, being able to help my clients from protecting inventors' inventions and advising on offerings as we go to market to brainstorming on long-term policy issues in strategic areas of our business, is a true privilege.

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow a similar career path?

The issues are only going to get more interesting as we see continuing developments in technology, such as cloud and AI.

If you're interested in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, have an analytical approach and a curiosity to continue learning, IP is a truly fascinating blend of technical, legal and commercial issues.

I'd encourage them to have a go.

WIPR Patents Live will include weekly broadcasts from some of the best speakers in the technology sector in the form of virtual panel discussions, roundtables, webinars and presentations.

Speakers have been confirmed from Canon, Nokia, Juniper Networks, Celixir, and Johnson & Johnson. Register here.

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