[Seminar] "Latest Developments in Law Focused on AI"

Title

Latest Developments in Law Focused on AI

Date & Time

1:10 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday, November 9 (JST)

Venue

8th floor, Hibiya Kokusai Building, 2-2-3, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0011

Attandance Fee

Free of charge

Hosted by 

Speakers

Atsumi & Sakai
Takafumi Ochiai, Senior Partner
Dr. Köksal Sahin, LL.M., Of Counsel

DLA Piper
Paul Steadman, Partner
Shuzo Maruyama, Partner
Tomomi Fujikouge, Of Counsel
Nicholas Kokkinos, Associate

1:10 - 1:15 | Opening Remarks: AI Strategies and Tactics for Global Japanese Firms

·  You will learn about the rapidly evolving legal landscape surrounding artificial intelligence and its practical implications for global Japanese companies.

·  In the US, the rules on AI are being shaped largely through litigation; in Japan and the EU, largely through regulation. The programme sets the two side by side, so that companies operating across these markets can see both kinds of risk in one afternoon.

·  We will address legal changes and emerging risks across trade secret protection, privacy and data sovereignty, legal privilege, the EU AI Act, cyber defence obligations in Japan, internal AI use policies, corporate espionage, and valuation of AI-related intellectual property.

·  Participants will receive practical recommendations for building stronger AI governance frameworks, protecting proprietary information, managing cross-border compliance obligations, and preparing for disputes involving AI technologies.

1:15 - 1:40 | Session 1: When the Machine Knows Your Secret: Practical Implications of the AI Revolution on Trade Secrets Litigation

·  Basics of Trade Secret definition and protection under US law

·  Comparative definitions and protections under Japanese, Korean and EU law

·  Consent as disclosure – examining the terms and conditions of AI models

·  Reasonable measures in the AI context – Practical implications

·  Emerging issues with prompt injection

1:40 - 2:05 | Session 2: Japan’s Moving Frontier: Personal Data, Trade Secrets and Cybersecurity

·  Practical compliance with Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), including the amendment enacted on 10 July 2026, its new statistical-purpose exception permitting personal data to be used and shared for AI training without consent on conditions, the phased commencement running to July 2028, and the rules on transferring personal data abroad, including for global model training

·  Trade secret protection under Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act when AI tools are used: what confidentiality management now requires, and how employee use of AI affects protection

·  Japan’s active cyber defence legislation, with the main provisions commencing in October 2026: asset notification and incident reporting duties on critical infrastructure operators, and the knock-on effect on suppliers and IT contractors

·  Cybersecurity and frontier AI: the government response to AI models capable of autonomous vulnerability discovery, including the alerts to the fifteen critical infrastructure sectors and the Financial Services Agency’s request to financial institutions, and what is now expected of boards of directors

2:05 - 2:25 | Coffee Break and Networking

2:25 - 2:50 | Session 3: Legal Privilege in AI Context

·  Companies and executives are now looking to AI for legal advice and framing

·  Loss of confidentiality implies loss of attorney-client privilege and work product protection

·  Courts are wrestling with these issues – and parties are losing their attorney-client privilege

·  AI is a powerful legal tool, so the framing matters

·  Practical advice for protective orders – and perhaps for NDAs?

2:50 - 3:15 | zSession 4: The EU AI Act After the Digital Omnibus on AI Regulation: What Japan-Based Companies Need to Do Now

·  Where the AI Act stands after the Digital Omnibus on AI (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744), in force since 27 July 2026: high-risk obligations deferred to 2 December 2027 for stand-alone systems and to 2 August 2028 for AI embedded in regulated products

·  What applies regardless of the deferral: the prohibited practices, including those added by the Omnibus, and the Article 50 transparency and content-marking obligations

·  When a Japanese company falls within the Act’s reach as a provider or deployer, and how obligations are allocated along the supply chain

·  How the Act interacts with the GDPR, and what to expect from the separate Digital Omnibus on data and cybersecurity, which is still under negotiation

3:15 - 3:35 | Coffee Break and Networking

3:35 - 4:00 | Session 5: Balancing Act: An Introduction to the AI Impact Shifting Standards of Enablement, Written Description, and Obviousness

·  Overview of how courts and IP offices are treating the competing requirements of enablement, written description, and obviousness in the context of AI generated or enhanced patent applications

·  Explore how AI technology is simultaneously enhancing IP protection while altering the bedrock standards on which new IP is built

·  Addressing employee use of unauthorized third-party consumer AI tools in corporate environments

·  Providing operational frameworks to enforce AI usage policies in view of company Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) frameworks

·  Prevent corporate espionage (for example, if a competitor company prompts a public AI platform to divulge trade secret information)

·  Prompt Injection

·  How the answers differ between the US, where they are being worked out through litigation, and Japan and the EU, where regulation is setting them, and what that means in practice for companies operating in all three

4:45 - 4:50 | Closing Remarks

4:50 - | Networking

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