The Next Decade of Intellectual Property: Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities

January 25, 2023

The intellectual property ecosystem is going through a significant transformation. The rate of technological change is accelerating, and emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence will change how the IP business provides tools and services

Role of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property rights, such as patents and trademarks, advance society by fostering innovation and, therefore, show its development. From finding sustainable energy solutions to furthering technology progress to making game-changing medical breakthroughs, these inventions consistently improve our quality of life.

The enforcement of these intellectual property rights is what frequently grabs attention; a business that has a patent to a technology or is protective of its brand might easily come out as monopolistic or even abusive. However, this viewpoint ignores the crucial role intellectual property plays in identifying, encouraging, and sharing technological advancement and innovation.

The fundamental procedure for acquiring a patent entails an exchange: the state will provide the right to exclude others, but for it to be valid, the technology must be properly disclosed, in addition to being innovative and not simply an obvious advancement of earlier technology.

This is a potent notion because each copyrighted invention increases the bar for what society already knows. This implies that the previous idea from anyone serves as the foundation for the new idea that will be produced. It implies that the system is designed to spur additional advancement. It implies that remaining still while using a technology to which you have exclusive access will not last forever.

Ownership of ideas, which is crucial for technical ideas that are time-limited, also serves as a means of compensating the talent that produces additional new ideas and addresses the issues and difficulties we all face.

The Pressing Need for Technological Advancement

We have formidable obstacles to overcome. We must switch to an energy infrastructure that is sustainable and lowers harm, from the sources down to every energy use case, because of the climate emergency and the diminishing availability of non-renewable energy sources. In addition to being an ecological disaster, habitat destruction is also a human catastrophe since it increases food, water, and health instability.

A crucial aspect of how we transition is funding the solutions to these problems, paying the salaries of scientists and engineers, and committing to regulatory change. Utility-scale energy production from solar or wind is already feasible in 2022 and, in certain situations, less expensive than gas or coal power generating. By combining the moral requirement with the economic imperative, that cost reduction has a snowball effect.

Patents support and facilitate this evolution. They can define technology in a contract, be exchanged, and utilized as financial security. They give a technology a legal existence that is independent of its source, comparable to a corporation registration.

Their function and basis for public policy differ in the case of brands and trademarks: trust. More than at any other moment in history, people purchase goods online, which places the production and quality of those goods distant from them.

This implies that there is a natural limitation on people’s capacity to evaluate quality, ethics, and service. Brand, or knowing who makes or delivers the goods we spend money on, is a remedy for this. Our economies are becoming more and more virtual; thus, the difference is becoming more and more crucial.

The future of IP: The Next Decade

Over the past 25 years, remarkable changes in technology and culture have had an impact on the administration of intellectual property rights. Many experts concur that current IP legal methods are not keeping up with these changes. The following significant changes will have a big impact on how IP practices develop over the next ten years when looking at how the industry adapts.

International vs. Domestic IP
Over the past 50 years, international rather than national IP protection has been the emphasis of policies and agreements. A few examples include the Madrid Protocol, the UDRP procedure run by ICANN, the Patent Cooperation Treaty of WIPO, and the Intellectual Property Directives of the European Union. In a world where enterprises are not bound by national borders, they all seek to make it easier for the worldwide protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), but this is made difficult by high prices and uncertainty. This increases the likelihood of risks for IPR owners.
The global economy will grow and there will be more international cooperation as IP is better protected. Owners of IP rights will need to make plans for global protection in this situation. Global protection, however, comes at an additional cost. Smaller companies and individuals run a serious risk of being priced out of acquiring complete IPR protection. Global protection is also complicated and unreliable. International IP treaties do not cover all aspects of the subject and, in the case of the TRIPS agreement, will seldom harmonize national legislation.
Data-Driven IP
The next ten years will see an improvement in IP practices due to the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which will analyze the worth of IPRs, evaluate the efficiency of patent prosecution with the use of algorithms, increase predictability, and lower costs for IPR owners. To manage and analyze IP portfolios, algorithms can be “trained,” which increases their cost-effectiveness and error-free operation. This is particularly true in the field of patent application and prosecution, where the expenses are typically higher.
In addition, as AI systems advance and become more inventive, new questions will surely arise. Legislators and courts will need to discuss where machine-created inventions fit into the IP system. Currently, patented inventions in the US must be the result of human thought. Will the current situation stay the same in this case? This conundrum will be resolved during the following ten years.
Technology Advances and Common Law Phrases
Utilizing common law concepts is a crucial component of IP practice in the US. Many of these common law phrases are no longer appropriate given the development of the internet, though. For instance, copyright law grants the owner the exclusive right to reproduce a work. One of the earliest common law copyright concepts, the theory of exhaustion, asserts that after the protected property is sold for the first time, the copyright owner’s rights are no longer valid.
However, since purchasers of works through the internet have the right to use and resale the copyrighted work, the first sale defense is all but eliminated. As technology and IP converge, inconsistent results are unavoidable, pushing practitioners to look for laws that will address these problems.
Mass Copyright Expirations
Practitioners anticipate a considerable amount of litigation as a result of the bulk expiration of copyrights in the US for the first time in 20 years. The Disney Corporation pushed for the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension of 1998, which extended the copyright term for works created in 1923 or later. Since nothing has entered the public domain since 1998, this essentially froze copyright protection, pushing the nearest expiration date until 2019. Corporations that rely on older copyrighted materials will undoubtedly fight for copyright extensions once more.
Omni-IP Management
Technology integration into practice will become standard practice during the next ten years, much like the use of big data has done. Intelligent software will become a common tool for conducting business in a fraction of the time it takes an attorney right now. Machines and algorithms will eventually carry out several tasks, including looking for infringing material and creating patent applications, even if they might not be able to completely replace the knowledge that an attorney contributes.
Due to the human factor, it is doubtful that AI will eliminate the requirement for an IP attorney. Although machine learning is advancing quickly, and the very technology that increases a lawyer’s worth may eventually replace some of them, creativity is a product of the human intellect.
Client Interaction
Twenty years ago, there was a marked difference in how lawyers interacted with their clients. Attorneys and clients no longer need to make travel arrangements to meet in person because of the abundance of modern communication tools and technologies. They might never even interact, yet they still, gain from the friendship. Technology advancements enable clients to select attorneys, communicate with them, and do the required legal work remotely. In ten years, face-to-face meetings won’t be as desirable because of the advancements in communications technology.
The End of Plagiarism
Technology, software, and artificial intelligence have made it feasible to create items specifically for the target market. This pattern will eventually reduce turnaround times and allay earlier worries about machine learning-based creations. Machine-produced art and designs will be more prevalent in ten years.
Maximizing Portfolio Value and The Evolving Role of Attorneys
Intangible assets already make up 80% of the value of the majority of businesses and more than 35% of the US economy, and this trend is expected to continue. Therefore, practitioners should implement plans for expanding their portfolios and changing IP management so that it no longer just serves as a safety net. To provide the best level of service, practitioners will need to take on a dual role that includes offering both legal advice and portfolio management services. This has become more challenging because of the internet, where non-attorney businesses provide a less expensive do-it-yourself model. If these services are not restricted, law firms will be forced to change as non-attorney services expand further.

Conclusion

It is yet unclear how these factors will interact and affect businesses, customers, and organizations. Innovation and intellectual property will continue to advance, empower, and protect investment, but stewardship will be necessary to prioritize the needs of the present over the dictates of the past. The upcoming generation of change-makers is prepared to guide society toward a brighter future with their vigor, resourcefulness, curiosity, and innovation. That sounds like fun.

About TTC

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