Protecting Ideas: Blockchain and Intellectual Property

Blockchain and patents, and intellectual property in general, are now emerging as something transformative for the protection of property rights. Because blockchain offers immutable and open time-stamped data records, it is often seen as a tool for recording, managing and tracking intellectual property rights. And it is suitable for many purposes, from confirming the originality of an invention to effectively managing intellectual property agreements without third parties.

Today we're going to talk about blockchain intellectual property protection and look at how blockchain and IP integration can streamline processes and reduce breaches.

Why is It Essential to Protect Intellectual Property Rights?

Intellectual property protection is important because it is critical to fostering innovation. It provides the creator of the property with control over whether others can use the intellectual property and, if so, under what conditions. Stricter rights give the owner the ability to invoke the law and sue someone who tries to copy or use their property without consent. They also prevent competitors from stealing ideas or concepts. In general, without protection of ideas, both individuals and entrepreneurs will not be able to take full advantage of their inventions and will pay less attention to research and development.

How Can Blockchain Protect Intellectual Property?

How are intellectual property and blockchain related? And do they have anything in common? Blockchain is a type of distributed database that allows for a permanent, immutable and transparent record of data and transactions that can only be accessed by authorized members of the network.

It makes it possible to exchange anything of value, whether it is money or patents in blockchain. Virtually anything can be tracked and exchanged on the network, reducing risk, cutting costs and increasing the speed of transactions for all participants.

The inability to adjust data on the blockchain means that it is highly amenable to various forms of intellectual property protection. Using blockchain to protect intellectual property can also provide increased efficiency and authentication, licensing of property through smart contracts and trademark registration. Let's learn more about them:

• Licensing Trademark Rights with Smart Contracts: We have mentioned smart contracts many times on our blog. They are the same paper contracts we are used to in our regular lives, only in the digital realm. A smart contract between two parties is written in computer code and is self-executing with cryptographic signatures. Since human and third party intervention is excluded, the computer code automatically controls the contract transactions. Thus, the code can send funds to the owner of the trademark and determine when royalties must be paid based on the contract. And there is a place for that, because this blockchain and IPR idea of licensing trademark rights via blockchain eliminates the need for third-party involvement and external support.

• Trademark and Patent Blockchain Registration: Blockchain and intellectual property together will bring many changes to the copyright registration process. For example, blockchain technology will strengthen the protection of unregistered rights and make the process of registering trademarks, designs and patents more efficient and practical. Through the tandem of blockchain technology and intellectual property rights, the trademark office can document the use and frequency of trademark use. And because of the openness and transparency of blockchain, such data can be accessed by anyone, potentially creating a convenient way to verify a registered mark.

Benefits of Blockchain in Intellectual Property Protection

The applicability of blockchain technology in the field of intellectual property rights is conditioned by the following:

• Blockchain technology applies to the entire classification of intellectual property objects - both objects of copyright and related rights, as well as objects of patent rights and means of individualization.

• Reliable and protected technology allows authors, right holders, consumers and owners of patents in blockchain to interact openly, transparently, without intermediaries, minimize time and financial costs, and protect copyrights.

• Blockchain can be used to register and record data. It can be used to create a registry with information about the owners of exclusive rights to intellectual property objects and the authors of these objects.

• The technology is used to improve the efficiency and security of intellectual property rights circulation.

How to Implement Blockchain Technology to Protect Intellectual Property?

Blockchain technology acts as a tamper-proof database that we cannot hack or modify. So blockchain helps to preserve ownership by keeping the original copyright data safe in the blockchain data. So if someone challenges your copyright, the blockchain for intellectual property implementation will allow, based on the chain of evidence of copyright ownership, to help prove your property right.

And overall, this type of blockchain technology patents tracking will save time and resources while gathering evidence for third parties if it ever goes to court. Implementing blockchain can also help in storing original works or for displaying filing dates for patents or trademarks.

How Do Different Countries Use Blockchain for Protecting Intellectual Property?

The use of blockchain intellectual property protection can be considered at the level of different countries:

• For example, in India, the Indian Patent Office is working on blockchain and innovative technologies to ensure a seamless blockchain patent process. Here, an entire network based on blockchain and artificial intelligence to manage intellectual property protection is expected to be developed to make patent processes as efficient, and fast as possible.

• In Europe, the issue of blockchain and artificial intelligence is also frequently highlighted. European Union Intellectual Property Office there is actively involved in promoting blockchain opportunities in the section.

• In the US, blockchain is being used to protect indigenous intellectual property blockchain projects and businesses from IP theft through import testing. Here, an experimental version of the blockchain platform for import testing has even been developed. Through which personal data will be kept safe with encrypted keys. All this is expected to result in the blockchain digital intellectual property protection platform working as an immutable registry where all trade transactions will be recorded.

This concludes the article that referred to intellectual property blockchain protection. Thanks for reading! Share your opinions on how blockchain is changing the way we understand, manage and protect creative works below in the comments.