Insights

Chicago – January 17, 2025: World IP Review ranked Crowell & Moring in its USA Trademark Rankings 2024. These rankings are “a comprehensive guide showcasing the leading law firms and lawyers in the field of trademark law in the United States.”

Washington – August 15, 2024: The 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 42 Crowell & Moring lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 29 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

In a unanimous opinion issued by the D.C. Circuit on March 18, 2025, the Court of Appeals affirmed denial of Dr. Stephen Thaler’s application to register a copyright protection for a work created by his generative artificial intelligence system, holding that the Copyright Act requires human authorship.

On October 24, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its highly anticipated ruling in the Kwantum v. Vitra case (C-227/23). In short, the CJEU held that EU Member States must afford copyright protection for works of applied art (i.e., furniture, lighting, home appliances, etc.) that meet the originality-requirement, regardless of the country of origin of these works or the nationality of the author.

Judge William Orrick in the Northern District of California has dismissed some claims in a lawsuit brought by visual artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz against Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt. The artists allege that the companies misused the artist’s copyrighted works in connection with the companies’ generative artificial intelligence systems and products. Judge Orrick dismissed all allegations against Midjourney and DeviantArt, but gave Plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint. Judge Orrick also dismissed copyright infringement claims brought by McKernan, Ortiz, and others in the artists’ class who had not obtained copyright registrations, a prerequisite to filing a copyright claim, but is allowing Andersen to pursue her claim that Stability AI's use of her work to train Stable Diffusion infringed her copyrights.

After the recent barrage of lawsuits filed by copyright owners against artificial intelligence platforms, it will likely take a few years for the dust to settle on multiple legal issues surrounding the new technology and intellectual property rights, says Crowell & Moring partner David Ervin, who co-leads the firm’s Advertising & Brand Protection Group.

&Motion sits down with Crowell’s own Jason Johnson and Neda Shaheen to discuss the basics of A.I., what Generative A.I. means, how these systems learn, and the uses of A.I. in, and risks for, the transportation space. To view the full presentation, please click here.