Hi Steemians ,,,, Taukah You Blockchain for Intellectual Property - Already many applications of blockchain technology in tech-fin technology, but how can blockchain increase intellectual property protection (IP)? It is obvious that distributed ledger technology can be applied in many use cases.
IP Enrollment System
How long will it take to apply for a patent? It depends on where an individual or business is filing. Let's look at the US as an example. Looking at data from FY 2016, the USPTO typically takes about 16.2 months from submission to initial office action. The average total time total is about 25.3 months. In addition, patents for certain categories such as computer architecture can take longer than the overall average.
The problem is that many IP submissions have to undergo manual review. In industries where it is important to be the first mover, it may be difficult to obtain approval from patent agents or other regulatory authorities. By replacing a centralized registration system with a decentralized system, it is easier to not only register new IPs but also update archiving and transfer ownership at any time. With blockchain, regulatory agencies will be able to achieve more with fewer needed resources. By reducing waiting time for approval, companies can move forward with innovations protected by IP laws.
Determining the Creator
Another major problem with IP ownership is to tell the entity which first created the IP. Due to the long approval process and the abundance of national IP regulations, there is no clear way to determine who owns the IP. For example, a singer might release a song that sounds similar to an existing song.
Regardless of whether the song was meant to be similar or not, cases like those that have occurred in the past resulted in several large-scale IP infringement suits, which usually only persisted many years after the songs were released. The "Blurred Lines" suit is one of the latest examples of this.
With a blockchain-based registration system, it will be easier to verify whether a new song or does not violate existing IPs from a previously registered track. This type of blockchain-based detection system can be considered as a legally supported Copyscape, only technology that can be applied to other things like art and music with the aid of artificial intelligence.
Pending Forgery
Unfortunately, in many instances, companies immediately steal their existing IP competitors to produce food, clothing, and other items. In today's era, it is still relatively easy for some companies to get away from the practice and generate millions or even billions of dollars in profits in the process. For physical products, at least, integration of blockchain through RFID tags is something that has already been implemented. This technology allows authorities to easily say when things like fake imported goods simply by scanning the product barcode.
Conclusion
While blockchain-based IPs are still in its early stages, some projects start not only developing technology but also gaining real-world adoption. For the most part, businesses seem interested in adopting these changes; however, government legal organizations are clearly the largest potential catalyst for the adoption of blockchain-based IP.