AI is not an Intellectual Property rights holder.

Products autonomously generated by AI, with no human involvement, will not be protected by copyright or patent, unlike works created by humans.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung affirms that AI is not an intellectual property rights holder. Photo: Pham Dong

On November 24, the National Assembly held a floor discussion on the draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property (IP).

Speaking to explain the opinions of the National Assembly delegates, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung stated that the most important shift in Intellectual Property currently is the transition from rights protection to assetization, commercialization, and marketization of research results.

“A developed nation is one where intangible assets, Intellectual Assets (IA), account for up to 80% of the total national assets,” the Minister emphasized.

For Vietnam, the stage has come where Vietnam must prioritize the development and protection of IA to transition into a high-income country, and thus, the amendments fundamentally revolve around this innovation.

Regarding the task of administrative procedure reform, the draft law requires comprehensive digital transformation to reduce the time for substantive examination of patents from 18 months to 12 months and establish a mechanism for expedited examination within 3 months, ensuring no backlog of application files remains.

“In recent years, we had a backlog of over 100,000 files, and in 2025, the Ministry of Science and Technology must focus its resources to resolve this existing file volume,” the Minister said.

In relation to IP rights for products created partially or wholly by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is a matter of interest to many delegates, the Minister stressed: AI is not an IP rights holder. Products autonomously generated by AI, with no human involvement, will not be protected by copyright or patent, unlike works created by humans.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, for products created by humans using AI as a tool, similar to a paintbrush or a camera, where the human has made a significant creative contribution such as ideas, direction, selection, or editing of the AI results, that person can be recognized as the author or inventor.

However, when creating new content, it must be ensured that it does not infringe upon the IP rights of others. Without access to data, there will be no AI. AI is artificial intelligence. The way we treat human intelligence is the way we should treat AI.

Regarding the expansion of IP protection scope, specifically for industrial designs of non-physical products to align with new technology trends, especially digital technology and AI, the law will delegate to the Government the task of providing detailed regulations on the conditions for protecting this type of product.

Concerning raising awareness and strengthening enforcement, improving social and business awareness of IP is addressing the root cause. Without correct awareness, there will be no protection registration, no exploitation, and no respect for the rights of others. Awareness will generate demand and pressure for reforming IP activities.

It is necessary to integrate IP into general and university education and communicate strongly to businesses and the community. Completing the establishment of a specialized IP court and supplementing more deterrent penalties are also crucial.

“Infringement of IP rights needs to be considered the same as theft in the real world and must be strictly dealt with. Shifting enforcement into the digital environment is also a breakthrough solution,” Minister Nguyen Manh Hung concluded.

Source: Pham Dong, Lao Dong Newspaper.