Publications

March 10, 2020

Development of a legal definition of artificial intelligence: different countries, different approaches

As our society begins to embrace artificial intelligence, many governments are having to deal with public concern as well as the ongoing push to harness these technologies for the public good. The reflection is well underway in many countries, but with varying results. The Office of the Privacy (…)

November 8, 2019

Intellectual property in open innovation and co-innovation in the field of artificial intelligence

Moving far beyond the traditional models of closed innovation, artificial intelligence is progressing by means of collaborations and exchanges, both with the academic world and between companies. In Canada, the United States and Europe, innovation has evolved in ways that have changed the very (…)

October 8, 2019

Neural Network and Liability: When the information lies in Hidden Layers

Many of the most advanced machine-learning techniques rely on artificial neural networks, which allow systems to "learn" tasks by considering examples, without being programmed specifically to perform those tasks. Neural networks are nothing new, however the emergence of deep learning1, and of (…)

June 11, 2019

Artificial intelligence: is your data well protected across borders?

Cross-border deals are always challenging, but when related to AI technologies, such deas additionally involve substantial variations in terms of the rights granted in each jurisdiction. Looking at cross-border deals about Artificial Intelligence technologies therefore requires a careful analysis of (…)

June 3, 2019

Heffel Gallery Limited : The National Importance of Foreign Art in Canada

On April 16, 2019, the Federal Court of Appeal issued a judgment resolving a deadlock that had been plaguing the Canadian art community since June 12, 2018. Since June 2018, the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (the “Board”) has had to take into consideration the Federal Court’s (…)

September 26, 2018

Artificial intelligence at the lawyer’s service: is the dawn of the robot lawyer upon us?

Over the past few months, our Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) team has tested a number of legal solutions that incorporate AI to a greater or lesser extent. According to the authors Remus and Levy1, most of these tools will have a moderate potential impact on the legal practice. Among (…)

July 25, 2018

Patent and Business Opportunities in the World of Digital Technologies

Copyrights are important for source codes and compiled data protection, as well as graphic design and video in the case of apps. In addition, apps names and logos may be protected by trademarks, and icons by design registrations. Trade secrets may keep exclusivity of at least core parts of the (…)

June 26, 2018

Dr. Robot at your service: artificial intelligence in healthcare

Artificial intelligence technologies are extremely promising in healthcare.1 By examining, cross-referencing and comparing a phenomenal amount of data,2 AI lets researchers work more quickly at a lower cost3 and facilitates doctors’ decision-making with regard to diagnosis, treatment and choice of (…)

April 6, 2018

Artificial Intelligence and blockchains are vulnerable to cyberattacks

Technologies based on blockchains and AI imply a considerable change for our society. Being that the security of data exchanged is vital, companies must begin adopting a long-term approach right now. Many businesses develop services based on blockchains, in particular in the financial (…)

October 5, 2017

Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence

Although artificial intelligence has been evolving constantly in the past few years, the law sometimes has difficulty keeping pace with such developments. Intellectual property issues are especially important: businesses investing in these technologies must be sure that they can take full advantage (…)

May 16, 2017

When artificial intelligence is discriminatory

Artificial intelligence has undergone significant developments in the last few years, particularly in respect of what is now known as deep learning.1 This method is the extension of the neural networks which have been used for a few years for machine learning. Deep learning, as any other form of (…)

March 29, 2017

Artificial intelligence: contractual obligations beyond the buzzwords

Can computers learn and reason? If so, what are the limitations of the tasks that they can be given? These questions have been the subject of countless debate as far back as 1937, when Alan Turing published his work on computable numbers1. Many researchers have devoted themselves to developing (…)

September 1, 2015

Intellectual property due diligence in an investment context

A due diligence analysis of intellectual property rights is an important step when acquiring or making a significant investment in a business. It is particularly important in the case of a technology business, where IP rights are assets that account for almost all the value in a business. A due (…)