MWM is at the forefront of guiding companies, developers, and investors across the breadth of legal and regulatory issues arising from the rapid commercialization and use of generative AI platforms and applications.
Today, the generative AI revolution is reshaping industries faster than any prior technological shift, presenting immense opportunities and complex legal challenges. To successfully navigate this evolving landscape, where the laws are largely unwritten, understanding the law is not enough.
To assess opportunities and mitigate the risks, clients need counsel who firmly grasp the technology on a technical level, and are also immersed in the AI domain and engaged with the technology they advise on. As a technology-focused law firm, MWM has been entrenched in artificial intelligence issues since the beginning of the AI revolution. This is our competitive advantage.
Munck Wilson’s multidisciplinary team includes attorneys who are not only legal experts in their practice areas, but devoted AI enthusiasts with a deep understanding and longstanding involvement in this transformative field. With attorneys who have been drafting AI patents and developing their own AI applications for literally decades, our AI Practice Group has the legal and market insight necessary to provide informed, proactive, business-minded counsel. Key highlights of our experience include:
Intellectual Property Management and Protection: IP strategic consulting, patent preparation and prosecution, IP Due Diligence, IP transactions, trade secret asset management, data usage policy reviews and drafting, employee AI usage policy reviews and drafting, and open-source licensing and compliance
Regulatory Compliance and Advisory (including Privacy and Data Security): Advising in-house counsel and businesses on AI development, adoption, and/or implementation, data privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, Gramm-Leach Bliley Act), cybersecurity, insurance, drafting AI usage policies for private and governmental organizations, data privacy compliance considerations in choosing models for AI inference, legal opinions for companies seeking to fine-tune their AI models, and ethical AI compliance
AI Governance and Policy Development: Assisting private companies and governmental organizations in establishing internal guidelines and best practices for AI development and deployment
Early Development Consultation: Engaging with businesses and developers at the conceptual/design stages to avoid legal hiccups later
Legal Risk Assessments for Investors and Commercial Lenders: Legal risk and compliance assessments for AI investment opportunities, competitive analysis, and due diligence for AI startups
Corporate Finance and M&A: Joint Ventures, M&A, data sharing agreements
Litigation and Dispute Resolution: – Handling of disputes related to AI technologies and implementations
By Jenifer Wallis Background The case traces back to 2018, when Thaler sought to register “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,” a piece of visual art with the U.S. Copyright Office, naming an AI system he developed (DABUS) as the work’s creator. Thaler acknowledged that the image was created by AI without traditional human authorship but
By Jenifer Wallis So, where do things stand as we close out 2025 and what’s next for 2026? Major Developments in 2025 In June 2025, Judge Alsup issued a much-watched order partially granting and partially denying summary judgment in Bartz v. Anthropic, 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.). In short, Judge Alsup held that the books Anthropic legally
By William A. Munck and Kyle Kasparek What the Pilot Does Under ASAP!, the USPTO will run an automated, internal AI search using information gleaned from an application’s specification, claims, abstract, and assignment under the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). The search will generate an AI-Assisted Search Results Notice (ASRN) that provides an early “top ten”
This prestigious recognition honors the nation’s most accomplished courtroom advocates, celebrated for representing clients in their most important trials, investigations, and regulatory matters. According to Lawdragon, the outstanding advocates recognized “have changed the course of industry and individual businesses, shaped our nation and the enforcement of its laws, and continued to uphold the role of
Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing. MWM is proud to have lawyers listed in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and
Catherine Rifai (Munck Wilson Mandala LLP, USA) will moderate a session titled AI in the EU—Navigating IP Opportunities and Challenges at the upcoming 2025 Trademark Administrators and Practitioners (TMAP) Meeting in Berlin, Germany. This session will take an in-depth look at key legislation, including the EU AI Act and the Digital Services Act, and discuss how these laws and
By Jenifer Wallis A number of industries focused on AI, most notably the legal, entertainment, and tech industries, have been waiting with bated breath on the US Copyright Office to issue guidance on one very important question: is the use of copyrighted material in generative artificial intelligence training fair use? Well, the US Copyright Office
By Daniel E. Venglarik Those governing enterprise AI use may find it challenging to keep pace with the current breakneck pace of innovation within the field. A few pragmatic tactics can aid professionals not directly engaged in the current AI arms race in maintaining functional expertise without being overwhelmed. In a time when AI hucksters
By Teresa Hudson The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the employment life cycle represents a transformative shift in human resource management, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, personalization, and data-driven decision-making. AI is reshaping how organizations interact with their workforce, from the initial stages of recruitment through the final process of termination. This interaction is
By Jenifer C. Wallis On February 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware delivered a significant ruling in the case of Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. Ross Intelligence Inc.[1], favoring Thomson Reuters and setting a precedent regarding the use of copyrighted works in training AI models. The court determined that
April 30 – May 1, 2025 – MWM is proud to be a sponsor of this two day AI-focused event, featuring trailblazers and top-tier executives who assemble to dive into discussions and insights on the latest trends and innovations in AI. Program will include: Located at the Irving Convention Center. Click here for more information.
By Daniel E. Venglarik Recent months have seen exponential growth in artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Among new models, OpenAI successively released multiple new variants culminating with GPT-4o and o3-mini; DeepSeek released its comparable model R1; and Google released Gemini 2.0 Flash. Among AI agents and AI assistants, Microsoft and Mistral each released iOS and Android
At Munck Wilson Mandala, we are avid champions of AI innovation. The rapid growth of AI presents enormous opportunities but also many new legal challenges. In a landmark case that underscores the complexities of AI and digital rights, Munck Wilson Mandala has filed a lawsuit against ElevenLabs, Inc., a leading provider of text-to-speech services. The
Employers are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) tools for recruiting and supervising employees. Those who do so should consider the applicable laws and potential legal risks. For example, Illinois recently passed legislation requiring employers to notify employees about the employer’s specific uses of AI. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 3773 (HB 3773) into
While AI presents extraordinary opportunities for technological advancement, it also raises real concerns over protecting intellectual property like copyrights and an individual’s name, image, and likeness. Perhaps the most well-known example of the dangers of AI are those false, AI-generated images of the most famous person in the world, Taylor Swift. In 2024 alone she
Written as a column for Daily Journal by MWM’s Kristin Kosinski The field of intellectual property is accustomed to the nuanced application of existing legal frameworks to issues created by nascent and evolving technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) presents challenges to trademark, privacy, and copyright laws, such as whether AI-created images, videos, replicas, or voice simulations
In a bold move, Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, has released Grok 2, a large language model and AI image generator with very few safeguards. This latest update to X’s chatbot allows premium users to generate nearly any image they can imagine – including deepfakes, copyrighted characters, and potentially offensive content. Musk presents this as
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is on everyone’s mind in the entertainment industry as it continues to make headlines in areas including music and performing artists’ rights. In June, the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) filed twin lawsuits against AI music generators Suno AI and Uncharted Labs, Inc. on behalf of Sony, Universal and Warner Brothers[1]
William A. Munck, global managing partner of Munck Wilson Mandala, joined the Dallas Bar Association’s Law Firm Managing Partner Roundtable Breakfast August 13 at the Arts District Mansion, for a thought-provoking discussion on generative AI’s role in managing law firms. He was joined by Sakina Rasheed Foster, partner and Dallas office managing partner at Haynes Boone and Hilda
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a focal point globally, driven by media coverage of the democratization of large language models and chatbots. AI tools are now rapidly integrating into various aspects of society, including sports. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Omega operated Computer Vision systems including an AI model specifically trained for each sport, AI-based
New Scrutiny of an Old Problem According to an IBM survey from 2023, 42% of companies use AI screening to improve recruiting and human resources,” with another 40% considering its implementation. AI-assisted hiring software offers the potential for reward (efficiency in business operations) but carries with it the risk of legal exposure. Although AI tools
Talent and their representatives are no strangers to the legal issues surrounding protecting name, image, likeness, voice, and other identifiable elements of a public-facing person. Half of U.S. states have statutes protecting an individual’s right of publicity, and more have some type of common law protection over such a right, such as a common law
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions. Intellectual property can be a thorny issue in health tech and medtech. The intersection of healthcare data and AI is setting up some complex patent
Written as a column for Daily Journal by MWM’s Kristin Kosinski Current and future uses of trademarks in Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems could implicate federal trademark law; however, not all scenarios will result in a violation of the Latham Act, nor will they always be immune from such claims. The intersection of AI and trademarks
