In a recent claim regarding the use of AI in the US judicial system, the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi issued sanctions to four American attorneys for their use of inappropriate and unverified AI content in their submissions. This breached Rule 11 of the US’ Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, whereby paragraph (b) provides that an attorney who presents pleadings to the court certifies to the best of their knowledge, information and belief that claims, defences and other contentions are backed by existing law and with evidential support.
Previous rulings in the US have formed the basis for sanctions to be imposed on attorneys using AI in their pleadings and arguments before the court, which allowed the District Court to disqualify the four attorneys in question from participating further in the case, including disqualifying two of the four attorneys in question (deemed to be “local attorneys” practicing under state law) from appearing before the District Court for two years and issuing fines to all four attorneys. One of the attorneys, employed in a senior position, was also ordered to attend an AI training course.
A similar hardline approach is now adopted by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) in respect of trade mark invalidation, cancellation and opposition proceedings, as well as registered design invalidation and cancellation proceedings. Parties to proceedings before the UKIPO are strongly encouraged not to use AI in drafting and preparing submissions, and it warns users that the submission of AI-hallucinated authorities to support arguments could result in adverse cost consequences potentially outside of the claimable caps, and in some cases may even result in the abandonment of applications and/or registrations if these submissions are found to be misleading, misapplied or simply incorrect. It is currently strongly recommended by judicial bodies that rightsholders and practitioners refrain from undertaking substantive work using AI without implementing rigorous safeguarding and verification procedures, and it is always advised that those who are unrepresented in matters seek independent expert legal advice.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
