Intellectual Property and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Intellectual Property Law and the Fourth Industrial Revolution analyses how the fourth industrial revolution changes the framework of intellectual property rights in the context of data, competition and compliance and how these changes can serve society. It is in the very nature of intellectual property rights that their justification and scope correlate with extraneous factors, such as societal perception and technological development. The convergence of various fields of technology is changing the fabric of society. Big data and data mining, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchains are already affecting business models and leading to social and economic transformations that have been dubbed by the fourth industrial revolution.

Well-known authorities in intellectual property law offer in-depth chapters on how intellectual property rights may have to change (or not) in the light of:

• power and role of data as the raw material of the revolution;
• artificial inventors and creators;
• trade marks in the dimension of avatars and fictional game attributes;
• concept of inventive step change where the person skilled in the art is virtual;
• data rights versus intellectual property rights;
• transparency in the context of big data;
• interrelations of data, technology transfer and antitrust;
• self-executable and ‘smart’ contracts; and
• proprietary information versus the public domain.

Offering the first in-depth legal commentary and analysis of this highly topical issue, the book approaches the fourth industrial revolution from the perspectives of technical background, society and law. Its authoritative study of how the data-driven economy influences innovation and technology transfer is without peer. The book will be welcomed by practising lawyers in intellectual property rights and competition law, as well as by academics, think tanks and policymakers.