This week, OpenAI quietly revealed a press release on its web site pledging to not use its patents offensively.
Asserting its dedication to the ideas of “broad access” and “collaboration,” OpenAI mentioned that it might solely use its patents in a means that helps innovation. “We pledge to only use our patents defensively, so long as a party does not threaten or assert a claim, initiate a proceeding, help someone else in such activities against us, or engage in activities that harm us or our users,” wrote the corporate.
But consultants say the claims are little greater than fluff.
In distinction to patent pledges like IBM’s 2005 promise to not use 500 particular patents in opposition to open supply software program makers, OpenAI’s is ambiguous and imprecise, in line with MBHB accomplice Mike Borella. It’s not clear what “defensively” means, precisely — or which actions OpenAI may understand as “harming” the corporate or its customers.
“The last phrase seems to be the exception that swallows the rule,” Borella informed TechCrunch. “It can be read in so many different ways, including to cover all of OpenAI’s competitors in the marketplace and parties who fairly criticize ChatGPT’s deficiencies.”
OpenAI additionally doesn’t have a lot of a patent portfolio it may assert if it wished to, he argued; its IP technique is rather more depending on commerce secrets and techniques — issues like confidential coaching information and strategies. Patent purposes with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office aren’t typically revealed till 18 months after submitting, however, at current, solely a handful of OpenAI’s have been granted.
Then there’s the truth that OpenAI’s patent pledge is simply that: a pledge. Voluntary, not binding, like a contract or guarantee.
It’s not clear what, if any, authorized weight it might need, says Shubha Ghosh, a Syracuse University professor specializing in IP legislation. In any case, it received’t restrict OpenAI from imposing its rights beneath copyright, commerce secret, or contract legal guidelines, he famous.
“Computer source code that guides ChatGPT would be protected by copyright law and trade secret law,” Ghosh mentioned. “Terms that OpenAI includes in its terms of service would still be enforceable as contracts. Should OpenAI engage in conduct that deviates from the pledge, for example by suing another company or an individual for patent infringement, what OpenAI has lost temporarily is credibility.”
Borella known as OpenAI’s assertion “public relations virtue-signaling”: an try to curry favor with the tech neighborhood and regulators, alongside the traces of Tesla’s ill-defined patent pledge in 2014.
“The statement as a whole ends up being nothing more than a paper tiger,” Borella mentioned, “rather than a substantive attempt to foster healthy competition in the marketplace.”
