How AI impacts intellectual property (IP) risk: Your questions answered

AI is changing how businesses work every day, whether it’s creating content, developing products or using data. But unlike traditional software, AI tools can generate outputs that businesses don't fully control, creating new questions around ownership, infringement and liability. Who owns the output? What data was used to create it? Was someone else’s rights affected in the process?

As AI adoption grows, so do the risks. More AI-related patents are being filed, trade secret disputes are on the rise, and lawsuits over AI-generated content continue to emerge. And with the uncertainty around how AI models are trained, combined with a legal and regulatory landscape that’s changing quickly, businesses in every sector are facing new and evolving risks.

The more businesses use AI, the more complex the IP landscape. AI-related patents are growing rapidly, creating a larger pool of protected technologies and increasing the likelihood of accidental infringement. At the same time, businesses have a greater commercial incentive to defend and enforce valuable IP rights.

We're seeing this trend across all areas of IP. Trade secret disputes have reached record levels, while copyright and trademark concerns continue to grow as AI-generated content becomes more common. Combined with the speed of AI adoption, this is creating a more challenging legal environment for businesses that rely on AI tools.

Many businesses assume responsibility sits with the AI provider, but that's often not the case. AI companies frequently limit or exclude liability through their contracts, meaning users can be left responsible if an AI-generated output leads to an IP dispute.

And since the lines of responsibility are blurred, creating uncertainty, businesses can find themselves underprepared and underinsured when AI-related IP risk turns into a dispute.

Many businesses assume their existing insurance cover will protect them from AI-related IP disputes. However, policies such as cyber, professional indemnity (PI) and errors and omissions (E&O) often contain limitations around patents, trade secrets, ownership disputes and contractual liabilities.

The challenge is that AI-related disputes don't always fit neatly into traditional coverage. That's why businesses are increasingly looking at dedicated IP insurance as a way to address risks that may not be fully covered elsewhere.

IP isn’t a specialist issue for technology companies. Every organization has assets worth protecting, whether that's its brand, content, proprietary processes, software, data or know-how. And practically every business uses AI. That creates a valuable opportunity for brokers.

By helping clients understand how AI is changing their risk profile, brokers can uncover exposures that may otherwise go unnoticed and start broader protection conversations. Just as cyber insurance evolved from a niche product into a mainstream discussion, IP risk is increasingly becoming an issue that every business needs to consider – particularly in this AI-driven world.