The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today launched a publication to help innovators navigate intellectual property (IP) and commercialization approaches for artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled health technologies.
The publication, AI-enabled Health Innovation and IP: From idea to impact, provides practical information across three areas: IP considerations throughout the innovation lifecycle, commercialization pathways, and health data governance and standard frameworks. It features an Innovation Lifecycle IP Matrix, which maps strategic IP decisions from ideation through global scale-up, alongside case studies from companies across the globe.
Developed by the ITU, WHO, WIPO Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H), the publication addresses a critical question: how to use IP to protect AI-health innovations and ensure they reach patients in all settings.
"Intellectual property in the AI-enabled health innovation space enables partnerships, attracts investment and creates the trusted frameworks that allow health technologies to reach those who need them,” said WIPO Assistant Director General Edward Kwakwa. “This publication reflects what we have learned from innovators: IP strategy must evolve at every stage, from early development through regulatory approval to deployment in diverse health systems. WIPO's contribution to the Global Initiative on AI for Health demonstrates how IP can accelerate the path from innovation to patient impact across global markets."
“This new publication is another example of why this partnership is so valuable,” said Seizo Onoe, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at the ITU. “ITU, WHO and WIPO are connecting research, business, technology and policy for the latest innovations to earn trust and achieve their full potential.”
“The real challenge is not whether AI can generate new ideas for health, but whether those ideas can become safe, trusted and widely accessible solutions,” said Alain Labrique, Director in the Department for Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI at WHO. “Intellectual property and meaningful technology transfer are central to that journey. Together, they shape how innovation is shared, how knowledge and capabilities are exchanged, and how quickly the benefits of AI reach the people and health systems – not only where these tools are built, but where they are needed most. Through the Global Initiative on AI for Health, WHO, ITU and WIPO are bringing these conversations together so that innovation does not stop at invention, but translates into real-world health impact for all.”
The publication demonstrates that successful AI-health companies employ mixed IP approaches—combining patents, trade secrets, copyright protection, and strategic licensing—rather than relying on any single approach. It also shows how IP strategies must evolve at each stage of development, with different IP tools becoming critical at ideation, validation, approval, deployment, and scale-up phases.
The publication serves AI-enabled health innovators, policymakers, regulators, health system implementers, and investment decision-makers worldwide.
As the AI health revolution accelerates, this publication ensures that innovators from all regions have the knowledge to compete, protect their work, and deliver impact at scale.