AI Patents Under the Microscope: Drafting and Prosecuting for the Long Game

Jonathan P. Hummel, a member of Ballard Spahr's Patents Group and Artificial Intelligence Team, will speak at IPWatchdog Live 2026. He will be joined by AI Patent Counsel at Salesforce Jason Harrier, Founding Partner of Blueshift IP Robert Plotkin, Assistant General Counsel for IP at Capital One Thara Russell, and Founding Go-To-Market at Ankar AI Giulia Toti as fellow session speakers.

The event description:

Artificial Intelligence is the future of innovation, and may very well be the future of the U.S. economy. Yet, despite this reality, AI patents are being scrutinized more aggressively than almost any other category of invention. Eligibility challenges, heightened obviousness analysis, functional claiming concerns, and rapid technological evolution have turned AI patenting into a long-duration strategy problem rather than a filing exercise. More troubling, short-term wins that are achieved at the USPTO often collapse under later enforcement or validity review once the courts get involved.

This panel examines how to draft and prosecute AI patents with durability in mind. Panelists will explore how to frame AI inventions to survive Section 101 and 103 challenges, manage disclosure in fast-moving model architectures, and build prosecution records that support enforcement years down the road. The discussion will focus on claim strategy, specification depth, continuation practice, and coordination between technical and legal teams.

The conversation will also address how PTAB trends, district court scrutiny, Federal Circuit skepticism, and global enforcement realities are shaping AI patent strategy—and why early prosecution decisions increasingly determine long-term portfolio value. Panelists will examine common failure points in AI patents and how disciplined drafting can preserve leverage as technologies, standards, and markets evolve.