The Digital Engineering 24/7 article brings an intellectual property (IP) perspective to the rise of AI-powered generative design tools, exploring legal challenges that designers, engineers, and companies now face as AI enters mainstream workflows. The article features insights from Grant Steyer, an attorney at IP law firm Renner Otto, who outlines how established IP rules are being tested by AI systems that create or assist in producing design work.
AI-driven design tools, from text-to-image generators to CAD assistants, leverage vast datasets and machine learning to accelerate creativity and exploration. That efficiency, however, raises thorny questions about ownership and rights. In traditional IP law, only natural persons or legal entities can hold copyright or design patents. AI systems themselves cannot, and this creates uncertainty when a design is co-created by a human and a machine. Many legal frameworks still assume a human “author” must exist for protection to apply, but AI’s growing role blurs that line.
Training datasets for AI design tools often include copyrighted, proprietary material. If the system’s output resembles or reproduces elements from those inputs, potential infringement claims could follow. Designers and companies using AI must be aware that training source material and resulting content can pose legal risks, especially in jurisdictions with strict copyright and design protections.
Steyer and other legal experts note that existing laws weren’t written with generative AI in mind, so they can lag behind technological practice. In the European Union, for instance, design and copyright law is under review to better account for digital outputs and AI’s impact. There’s also discussion about whether users who direct AI tools should be considered the legal authors, a position the European Commission has suggested when the human contribution meets criteria such as novelty and individual character.
The article emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaboration: designers, engineers, and lawyers must work together to create clear policies and best practices that protect creators while enabling innovation. As AI-powered design becomes more widespread, IP law will need to evolve rapidly to balance creative freedom, legal certainty, and fair reward for original contributors.