What does this decision by the Federal Council mean for the field of intellectual property? According to DETEC’s ‘Overview of artificial intelligence regulation’ of 12 February 2025, particular attention should be paid to intellectual property. With regard to copyright, the report states that generative AI systems are often trained with copyright-protected works. At the same time, more and more people are using AI systems to create content such as images, text or music themselves. This use raises copyright issues that are currently controversial from a legal perspective and does not favour legal certainty.

Delays should not hinder the introduction of a related right for the media. Based on the feedback received during the consultation procedure, AI regulation was therefore excluded from the legislative project to introduce a related right for the media. However, DETEC’s report suggests that copyright law should now be examined in order to take account of the challenges posed by AI and to ensure legal certainty. Motion 24.4596 by the Councillor of States Petra Gössi ‘Better protection of intellectual property against AI misuse’ (in German), which the Federal Council recommended for adoption at its meeting on 19 February, calls for precisely this, as well as very specific adjustments to copyright law.

In contrast to copyright law, the report sees no current need for regulation in patent law. Since 2016, the number of patent applications for AI-based inventions has increased exponentially and does not appear to present any challenges in this area. This indicates that the system is functioning satisfactorily. However, a clear practice should be established with regard to the disclosure of training data for AI-based inventions. The increasing use of AI could lead to a further development of the concepts of novelty and invention in patent law. In addition, worldwide developments in patent law concerning the requirement of a natural person to be named as an inventor should be closely monitored.