Using AI To Develop A Better Clean Room

• Published date: 16 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Intellectual Property, Corporate and Company Law, Copyright, Trade Secrets
• Law Firm: Holland & Knight
• Author: Mr Jacob W Schneider

If you send your computer-generated MacGyver episode ideas to the production company, it is unlikely to review them. When companies do solicit creative ideas from the general public, they will likely require a signed agreement before you share anything. Such an agreement often says that with whomever you share the idea will not share it with others at the company unless and until the idea is licensed or purchased from you. Those individuals tasked with reviewing idea submissions are subject to policies that prevent them from sharing the ideas with others at the company.

The reason for these precautions is simple: If the company reviews your ideas, rejects them and later produces something even remotely similar to your ideas, then you will feel wronged. And people who feel wronged file lawsuits.

Despite these precautions, others' ideas do spread, or can even incorrectly appear to spread, in companies, and companies may use "clean rooms" (also called "white rooms") to limit their spread and ensure that what the company creates is truly independent and homegrown. This post explores the use of clean rooms and how AI could be leveraged to develop a better clean room.

Ideas Are Stubborn, Infectious

The reason companies either ignore idea submissions or carefully wall them off from most of their employees is because intellectual property is a unique area of law. Intellectual property largely protects intangible things: ideas, inventions, creative expression and brand goodwill (among others). These intangible things can spread fast, and you cannot delete an idea from someone's mind once it is shared, nor can you easily fix the erroneous appearance that an idea has spread.

That final point is on the mind of every trial lawyer. Lawyers will say that we "cannot unring the bell" when explaining that a statement made in front of the jury cannot be taken back. Once a jury hears that a civil defendant is wealthy, his wealth will necessarily rest in their minds. And while the judge may give an instruction to ignore the defendant's wealth, the fact may affect a juror's judgment of the case. Such statements could lead to a mistrial, and lawyers and judges often huddle together in a sidebar during trial to prevent the idea's disclosure before it happens. The inability to unring a bell is also why we are culturally so protective of TV/movie spoilers. For example: Once you know that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father, you will never forget that fact or the person who...