Jurisdiction(s):
Ireland

Ireland: AI and IP law—copyright (text and data mining), patents, trade secrets and database rights; protection of training data, algorithms, AI systems and outputs; authorship and patentability

Published by a Lexis+ Ireland - Commercial expert

Practice notes

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Introduction

This Practice Note reviews the current Irish intellectual property framework governing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in Ireland. It summarises the principal strands of IP law relevant to AI systems and models and, in particular, explores questions around IP rights in:

AI inputs (eg training data)
the AI system itself
AI outputs

What is artificial intelligence?

There is no single, settled definition of AI. In general terms, it refers to the imitation of human intelligence by machines, usually computer systems. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU AI Act, defines an AI system as: ‘… a machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment and that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.’ For explanations of common terminology, see Practice Note: Ireland—Artificial intelligence—glossary of terms for legal professionals. For guidance on the EU AI Act, see Practice Note: The EU AI Act. To follow the progress of key legal developments in relation to AI, see Practice Notes: EU artificial...

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Brian McElligott

Mason Hayes & Curran LLP

Brian is a Partner in our Technology Law team and is Head of our Artificial Intelligence team. He has an undergraduate degree in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dublin. Brian re-joined Mason Hayes & Curran in January of 2023 having spent time in-house as Chief Intellectual Property counsel with an Irish AI fintech start-up. During that time, he gained significant experience in operationalising and commercialising AI platforms and solutions. He led AI invention harvesting and international patent and trademark portfolio filing projects and was part a team of software engineers and data scientists that conceived and developed a bespoke inhouse software invention and R&D tagging tool. He headed up the internal AI Ethics Council dedicated to producing ethical AI products for the company. Prior to working in-house, Brian was a Partner in our Intellectual Property team. He is a proven...

Web page updated on 28/05/2026

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