How Will AI Transform The Management Of Intellectual Property?

The results of IP Trend Monitor's 2019 edition are in, and they reflect the belief that artificial intelligence (AI) will cause significant changes to our work within the next five years. Respondents also share the opinion that AI will dramatically improve the efficiency of Intellectual Property (IP) services in the future. Still, information on this topic is scarcely available and this year's study will help close that gap by answering some of the industry's most burning questions.

IP Trend Monitor is an annual survey established by the Dennemeyer Group, together with CTC Legal Media, to investigate current topics in IP management. There are more than 400 members of the IP Trend Monitor panel, representing the full range of IP practitioners - lawyers, attorneys, consultants, IP counsel, inventors and scientists - from all areas of the industry - large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, law firms, IP service providers and IP offices.

For the 2019 edition, over 100 participants responded to our questions and of these, roughly one-quarter were from large corporations, one-quarter from law firms, 20% from patent / trademark firms, 15% from IP service providers, 10% from SMEs and 3% from IP offices. Participants were also asked which geographical area(s) they are responsible for. Their answers suggest that participants remain focused on the key developed markets, with China also important, but other emerging markets are yet to make an impact. Most of this year's survey focused on questions around the impact of AI on IP, which is identified as the single biggest issue facing practitioners in this area. However, the survey also revealed insights into trends in work and growing markets.

Key findings in the IP Trend Monitor report

AI is expected to cause significant changes to our work within the next five years, but what those changes will be and how we can best prepare for them is highly uncertain, according to participants in this year's IP Trend Monitor report. Remarkably, more than two-thirds of participants say they have heard about AI and would like to learn more, while just one in five say they already use AI in their daily work. Respondents who identified themselves as management level were both more likely than legal experts to say they use AI daily (28% compared to 15%) and less likely to claim they know all about AI (6% compared to 15%), while patent specialists were slightly more likely than trademark specialists to use...