Patents Versus Trade Secrets for Inventions That Use Artificial Intelligence

Patents are typically used to protect new inventions, particularly when the inventions are easily reverse engineered. On the other hand, if the novelty of an invention is not publicly visible (e.g., an algorithm running in the Cloud), or infringement would be difficult to detect, companies may opt for trade secret protection.

Artificial Intelligence can affect how an invention is protected, and may even influence how it is implemented. This presentation identifies some of the factors to consider and provides some specific recommendations. The presentation is particularly relevant to inventions that are implemented in software, but some of the issues impact other inventions as well.