Blockchain Impact on Intellectual Property
Recently, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba revealed that the giant company integrates blockchain technology into its intellectual property system of global enterprises and brands. The system allows linking between the international brands, the Internet Court through the blockchain-based Ali Intellectual Property Protection Platform, to be used as a basis for litigation rights protection.
Blockchain technology is one of the revolutionary technologies that will have a great impact on the variety of industrial sectors and legal areas in the forthcoming years. Blockchain technological advancements promise wide use in the intellectual property rights, IP laws and IP applications.
The blockchain simply is a chain of blocks, i.e. digital information which is recorded and distributed, but not edited (the block), stored in public database (the chain). The blockchain network is a decentralized network; and the information in the blockchain is opened for everyone to see. However, the blockchain is un-hackable, immutable and auditable.
The IP rights registrations process of Trademarks, copyrights, Industrial Designs and Patents in the routine way, in a circle of clients, attorneys, and the registrar, using emails, bank transactions, information in soft and hard copies, will apparently be changed in the forthcoming future to using such novel technology of blockchain, which provide successful integration into the various services of registrations and transaction channels.
For IP rights assignments, licensing, the right holder identification and IP rights management, the blockchain based solutions will significantly impact to enhance the efficiency of IP rights management, via using of Smart Contracts.
From the patentability aspect, the patentability of the blockchain is as such as the partibility of the Artificial Intelligence, where the patentability approach for computer implemented inventions are applied. However, the number of blockchain related patents are significantly increased yearly. Most of blockchain patents have been filed in the United States, followed by China and the European Union.
Written by : Mona Dagher.