Abstract
Current discussions on artificial intelligence inventorship or authorship are focused in the patent and copyright spaces. These discussions largely ignore the trade secrets space outside the context of other’s ownership of AI-related technology. This is likely due to the disconnect between creatorship and ownership that exists in trade secrets law, but that is not present in patent and copyright law. In particular, there is no requirement of human creatorship in trade secrets law, but patents and copyrights might require a human creator. This article explores the possibility of AI ownership of AI-generated information under current trade secrets law for modern AI systems. The article concludes that modern AI systems could possibly meet the statutory requirements for trade secrets ownership because the limiting factors are technological, not legal. Accordingly, theoretical justifications for providing trade secrets rights to AI systems are also explored. The traditional justification for IP rights does not provide sufficient justification for trade secrets rights in modern AI systems but could provide justifications for later advanced systems commensurate with other IP regimes.
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Timothy
(2024)
"Do Androids Dream of Economic Incentives?,"
Akron Law Review: Vol. 57:
Iss.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview/vol57/iss2/2