Protection of intellectual property rights in AI objects

The active use of artificial intelligence in business processes has moved from the experimental stage to everyday practice. Companies systematically apply generative algorithms to create texts, visual content, and other intellectual property (IP) objects, which helps optimize operating costs.

At the same time, legal practice related to the protection of results created with the involvement of AI, is forming, which requires companies to build a clear strategy for protecting such rights, taking into account current legislation. It is important not to miss the registration of IP objects. Many leading companies do not leave the issue of IP protection for later, realizing the possible consequences, and build thoughtful strategies. Registration of such assets is no longer considered as only one of the options of the business, IP protection is now comparable to a "prerequisite", a marker of a secure business. A competent approach allows not only to protect investments in AI development, but also to turn their results into capitalized assets.

Who would benefit from it?

Startups and small projects that are limited in resources and cannot yet afford to pay for a team of designers or copywriters. For them, using AI helps in optimization and is actually the only alternative to increasing costs and deadlines.
Companies with active business, for which the registration of IP rights is not yet considered a priority, and is carried out only when it is necessary.
Companies that face an urgent need to protect a specific IP object, for example, in the event of content theft or copyright infringement. It is important to prepare and register IP objects within a small period of time.

Do IP objects created with the help of AI receive protection?

Depends on the circumstances. At the moment, legal practice is only at the stage of formation, so regulators do not have a unified approach to this issue. Nevertheless, a number of jurisdictions have already developed guidelines reflecting the position of intellectual property offices on objects created with the participation of AI:

USA. In April 2025, the Copyright Office published clarifications according to which copyright can be registered if several conditions are met.:

If AI was used solely to help, but not to replace human creativity.
When a person contributes their own copyrighted work to an AI system.
In the case when a person significantly changes the work created by AI (in this case, an analysis of the level of originality of the final product is necessary).

Great Britain. In September 2025, UKIPO began public consultations on the approach to IP rights registration, in particular, it was indicated that, in general, the approach to registration of design rights would be similar to that of the US Copyright Office, that is, with the involvement of the human factor, registration would be possible.
China. In March 2025, the Changshu People's Court also issued a decision with a similar verdict - if the human factor is involved in AI activities at the required level, copyright protection is possible.
The European Union. The practice has not yet been formalized in such detail, but judging by the publications, the EU maintains a similar position as other countries. At the same time, it should be remembered that from August 2026, in accordance with the AI Act 2024, labelling on the use of AI in creating specific object will be mandatory when publishing such works, which may generally affect the EUIPO's attitude to this issue.
Germany. In 2024, the Bundesgerichtshof recognized the possibility of registering a patent created using AI, regardless of the level of artificial intelligence involvement, provided that it remains possible to identify the real author. This decision is extremely interesting in the context of the law of other jurisdictions regarding the use of AI in patents, for comparison, the USPTO allows the registration of patents only in the case of minor use of AI as a complement to human work.

Thus, the key issue remains the involvement of a real person in the process.

Requirements for registration of various IP objects created by AI

Copyright Registration for AI-Generated Works

Copyright registration is possible with significant human involvement in the creation process. AI should act here only as an auxiliary tool that complements the creativity of the author of the work. In this case, as an option, a situation may arise in which a person will have copyright in the text of the prompt used to create the AI painting, but the painting itself will be created without his direct intervention.
Patent Registration for AI-Invented Creations

Registration of a patent created using AI is possible only if there is a real person, the author, who is able to document the contribution to the development of the invention. Also, since this area of law is the most complex and peculiar in the field of intellectual property, it is necessary to understand that subtleties and local features will play the most key role in relation to other IP rights.
Trademark Registration for AI-Generated Works

Everything is much simpler with trademarks at the moment, since as such the authorship factor does not play a role in the assessment of trademarks, therefore, at the moment, registration of AI-generated trademarks is possible, however, at least in the EU, due to the introduction of labeling of AI created works, this position may change.

What is our help and why is it important?

The work of Law&Trust specialists with intellectual property objects created with the participation of AI is based on an integrated approach that provides legal protection and minimizes risks:

A detailed legal analysis of a specific IP case and object in accordance with local norms and a specific area of law.
Assessment of the degree of authorship, study of the involvement of AI in the process of creating the final product and an honest assessment of the possibility of registration.
Elaboration of a strategy to protect IP rights for a specific IP jurisdiction and object.
Registration of IP rights and full support of this process at all stages.

Comprehensive approach allows you to build reliable intellectual property protection strategy, minimizing the risks of disputes, violations and loss of rights to the created content.

F.A.Q.

s it possible to register an automatically generated work without human intervention?

Currently, registration of such objects is not possible in most countries with a developed field of IP law. The authorship is behind the person. In practice, there are indeed exceptions to the rules, but such stories depend on the laws of a particular country, and are considered individually.

How can we prove human involvement in the creation of an AI object?

The only thing that can serve as proof is the confirmation of a person's actions. It is important to document all processes. If there is initial data from the author, notes, corrections, promts, instructions for AI, then the process will enter into a positive dynamic. The smaller the AI-human-AI chain, the more successful the case will be.

Is it possible to use existing AI generators to create objects that are planned to be registered?

You can, but with caution. It is important that you maintain control over the initial data and results, and record your instructions and adjustments. This will confirm that the final object is the result of joint human and AI creativity.

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