50 most influential people in IP 2022: MIP recognises Ankit Sahni, AI owner

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50 most influential people in IP 2022: MIP recognises Ankit Sahni, AI owner

Ankit Sahni is the owner of the RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App in India

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Ankit Sahni, owner, RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App, India

Ankit Sahni has been picked for his significant contribution to the artificial intelligence copyright ownership debate.

Sahni made history in December 2020 when he secured a copyright registration in which an AI tool was listed as a co-author.

This year, other major offices, such as the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the US Copyright Office, have examined the AI authorship question because of his efforts.

In February 2022, Sahni received a registration from the CIPO that recognised RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App as a co-author. It’s likely Canada's first such registration.

Sahni’s US application, however, didn’t achieve the same feat.

The US Copyright Office rejected Sahni’s application, although it did not base its refusal on the fact that the AI tool was one of the authors.

The refusal focused on the idea that the artwork wasn’t one of human authorship and that the office couldn't distinguish human contribution in the final output.

The US application is now pending a review before the Copyright Office.

Sahni also ran into a wall in India last November. The Copyright Office backtracked on its decision to grant registration to an AI-generated artwork and sent a notice of withdrawal to Sahni.

Sahni, however, fought back and responded to the notice in December. He argued that the Copyright Act did not contain any express provision that allowed the registrar of copyright to review his own decision.

India's Copyright Office hasn't issued any further communication to Sahni.

Profiles for the 50 most influential people in IP 2022
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The list is in five categories, which you can navigate by selecting the appropriate section below.

19 Industry leaders
10 Public officials
9 IP authorities
7 Judges
5 Notable individuals
 
Kasim Alfalahi is CEO at Avanci in the US
Shannon Thyme Klinger is chief legal officer at Moderna in the US
Jim Sullivan is a director at Shazam Productions in the UK
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen are founders at Andreessen Horowitz in the US
Robert Devonshire is a partner at MML Capital in the UK
Jack Randles is head of legal at Manolo Blahnik in the UK
Audrey Lee is general counsel at Starz Entertainment in the US
Craig Wright is a computer scientist in Australia
Mattia Fogliacco is president of Sisvel International in Luxembourg
Joyce Ang is senior vice president for IPR protection at Lazada in Singapore
Niall Trainor is senior director of brand protection at eOne in the UK
Scott Frank is CEO of IP at AT&T in the US
Stephen Wurth and John Scott are legal counsel at Qualcomm in the US
Juliette Rouilloux-Sicre is vice president of legal and intellectual property at Thales in France
Nader Pazirandeh is president at Unicolors in the US
Clemens Heusch is global head of dispute resolution at Nokia in Germany
René Claude Metomo is the president of the Association of Penja Pepper Producers in Cameroon
Beat Weibel is chief IP counsel at Siemens in Germany
Daniel Zohny is head of IP at FIFA in Switzerland
 
Jacob Rees-Mogg is the former secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy in the UK
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the director general of the World Trade Organization in Switzerland
The investigation lead at the Spanish National Police asked to remain anonymous
Edwin Tong is the second minister for law in the Singapore government
Kerstin Jorna is director general of DG Grow at the European Commission in Belgium
Thom Tillis is a senator for North Carolina at the US Congress
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the former president of the United Arab Emirates
Patrick Leahy is a senator for Vermont at the US Congress
Vladimir Putin is president of Russia
 
Alexander Ramsay is former chair of the UPC Administrative Committee in Sweden
Insil Lee is the commissioner at KIPO in South Korea
Christian Archambeau is executive director at the EUIPO in Spain
Tim Moss is former CEO of the UKIPO
Shen Changyu is the commissioner of the CNIPA in China
Shira Perlmutter is register of copyrights at the US Copyright Office
Kathi Vidal is the director of the USPTO and under secretary of commerce for IP in the US government
Konstantinos Georgaras is CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office
António Campinos is president of the EPO in Germany
 
Wang Jiangqiao is a judge at the Hangzhou Internet Court in China
Prathiba Singh is a judge at the Delhi High Court in India
Klaus Grabinski is president of the UPC Court of Appeal in Germany
Len Stark is a judge at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the US
Orlando Garcia is the chief judge at the District Court for the Western District of Texas in the US
Colm Connolly is the chief judge at the District Court for the District of Delaware in the US
Suzanne Barnett was the interim chief judge at the Copyright Royalty Board in the US
 
Amber Kotrri is the founder of House of Zana in the UK
Taras Kulbaba is a partner at Bukovnik & Kulbaba IP Guardians in Belgium
Lynn Goldsmith is a celebrity photographer in the US
Ed Sheeran is a pop star in the UK
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