January 10, 2020
Submitted via Email: AIPartnerships@uspto.gov
Andrei Iancu
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Re: Request for Comments on Intellectual Property Protection for Artificial Intelligence Innovation, Docket No. PTO-C-2019-0038, 84 Fed. Reg. 58141, pp. 58141-42 (October 30, 2019)
Dear Director Iancu:
The Entertainment Software Association1 (“ESA”) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) request for comments on what the impact of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies on intellectual property law and policy and whether revisions to intellectual property protection are needed. ESA’s comments in response to the Federal Register notice (“FRN”) focus solely on the portion of the document on copyright and support the view that no changes to U.S. copyright law are warranted at this time. We appreciate the USPTO’s thoughtful formulation of complex questions on copyright. However, because AI technologies are still evolving and recognizing that how those technologies are utilized by ESA members also change in tandem, we encourage the USPTO to refrain from making or recommending changes to either law or policy on the interplay between AI and creative works until the technologies mature and surrounding legal and policy issues come further into focus. We also think that this core principle applies equally to trademarks and trade secrets.
