Public Lecture | How the Intellectual Property System Can Fuel Creation and Innovation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Title：How the Intellectual Property System Can Fuel Creation and Innovation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Speaker：Wu Xiaoping, Counsellor and Legal Affairs Officer in the Intellectual Property Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Date and Time: December 12, 2024 (Thursday), 18:00 – 19:30 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM) (China Standard Time)

Venue：STL Building 308

Langauge：Chinese

About the Speaker:

Mrs. Xiaoping Wu possesses decades of extensive professional experience in addressing intellectual property legal and policy issues from diverse perspectives, with expertise across both national and international contexts, as well as in the private and public sectors.

From 2002 to 2024, Mrs. Wu served as a Counsellor and Legal Affairs Officer in the Intellectual Property Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where her work primarily addressed policy, legal, and technical issues related to the implementation of international intellectual property law. In this capacity, she provided comprehensive legal, policy and technical advice to member countries, facilitating international negotiations and the development of national intellectual property legal frameworks. In recent years, Mrs. Wu conducted policy research and published work focusing on patent issues in public health, standard essential patents, the development of patent landscapes and technology transfer. 

Throughout this period, Mrs. Wu was also responsible for a wide range of training initiatives focused on intellectual property and the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Notably, she organized 16 annual WIPO-WTO colloquia for global intellectual property professors and served on the Editorial Board for the colloquium's research publication from 2007 to 2023. These colloquia sought to enhance the participants' understanding of international intellectual property law and to promote scholarly collaboration among legal professionals across various jurisdictions. 

Before joining the WTO, Mrs. Wu served as an Assistant Judge in the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Shanghai Intermediate Court, gaining valuable experience in judicial processes and decision-making. Additionally, Mrs. Wu practiced as an attorney-at-law at the Kangda Law Firm, where she provided legal representation and counsel in the field of intellectual property litigation.

Mrs. Wu holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the East China Institute of Politics and Law, a Master’s degree in Civil Law from Peking University Law School, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Intellectual Property Law from George Washington University Law School.

Lecture Summary:

The presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the intellectual property (IP) system, emphasizing its increasing significance in the context of rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). It will critically examine the ways in which Al challenges traditional IP frameworks, with particular focus on the implications for copyright and patent systems. The discussion will explore the complexities arising from the use of copyrighted works as training data for Al, as well as the implications of Al-generated or Al-assisted works and inventions. Furthermore, the presentation will consider the evolving legal and regulatory responses to these challenges,highlighting the role of academic research and practitioner expertise in shaping the future trajectory of the IP system.

Poster：