Intellectual Property

Core Event

On March 20, 2026, the White House under President Donald J. Trump released the National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence, a set of non-binding legislative recommendations to Congress for a unified federal AI approach emphasizing innovation, safety, and oversight.[1][3][4]

On February 24, 2026, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the Provisions on the Protection of Trade Secrets, a major overhaul replacing the outdated Several Provisions on Prohibiting Infringement of Trade Secrets from 1995 (last amended 1998), which had 12 articles; the new Provisions expand to 31 articles and take effect June 1, 2026.[1][2][4][8] Key developments include an expanded definition of trade secrets covering technical information (e.g., algorithms, computer programs, code, AI datasets) and business information (e.g., customer data, sales strategies, financial plans) with actual or potential commercial value, plus lower enforcement barriers like a presumption of infringement if substantial similarity and access are shown.[1][4][5] They also introduce extraterritorial reach, detailed confidentiality measures (e.g., tiered access, data encryption, employee exit protocols), and alignment with the digital economy.[1][4][7]

Grammarly, owned by Superhuman Platform Inc., launched its "Expert Review" AI tool in August 2025, allowing users to pay $12/month for real-time writing feedback mimicking styles and advice from prominent figures like journalist Julia Angwin, author Stephen King, and Neil deGrasse Tyson—without obtaining their consent.[1][Input Summary] On March 12, 2026 (noted as "Wednesday" in reports), Angwin filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. Southern District of New York, alleging misappropriation of names and identities for commercial gain, violating New York and California privacy and publicity rights laws; the suit seeks class certification, an injunction, and damages for affected journalists, authors, editors, and others.[1][Input Summary]

Core event: Goodwin Procter LLP launched its first Orange County office in Newport Beach, California, on March 17, 2026, by recruiting three partners—Richard Grabowski, John Vogt, and Ryan Ball—from Jones Day to lead it.[1][3][7][9] These attorneys specialize in cybersecurity, privacy, technology litigation, trade secrets, and consumer financial services, bringing elite trial experience including top defense verdicts and summary judgments in high-stakes cases.[1][6][8][10]

Emory University School of Law in Atlanta is launching a new AI and the Law concentration starting Fall 2026 (academic year 2026–27), providing students with specialized coursework and interdisciplinary training on AI's legal implications, including regulation, liability, intellectual property, and ethical issues in areas like healthcare, work, and data science.[1][2][3][4][5]

Core Event

Above the Law article warns in-house lawyers of hidden risks in standard AI vendor contracts, exemplified by one agreement granting vendors co-ownership of customer-generated content and perpetual licenses to data via broadly defined "Aggregated Statistics," with no anonymization standards or data recovery options.[1]

Core event: Goodwin Procter LLP launched its first Orange County office in Newport Beach, California, on March 17, 2026, by recruiting three partners from Jones Day: Richard Grabowski, John Vogt, and Ryan Ball, specialists in cybersecurity, privacy, technology litigation, trade secrets, and consumer financial services.[2][4][6][10]

Core event: On March 18, 2026, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a 291- to 391-page discussion draft of the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act (The Republic Unifying Meritocratic Performance Advancing Machine Intelligence by Eliminating Regulatory Interstate Chaos Across American Industry Act), proposing the first comprehensive federal AI regulatory framework to preempt state laws.[1][3][4][11][13]