The Gabonese Industrial Property Office, in collaboration with
the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI), organised a
conference on artificial intelligence and intellectual
property.
Philippe Rodhain, an international expert in intellectual
property, spoke at the conference and highlighted both the benefits
and dangers of AI.
The benefits he identified included the facilitation of
creativity amongst artists, writers, musicians and designers.
Further, in relation to patents, he said that AI has demonstrated
its usefulness for facilitating prior art searches, infringement
detection, and technology portfolio analysis.
However, he warned of the dangers of AI in relation to
counterfeiting, urging that creators adopt specific requests to AI
to ensure author recognition. In relation to the regulation of the
use of AI generally, he indicated that efforts are being made in
this regard in Europe and America but that Africa still had much
work to do in this