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18 August 2017Patents

Blockchain: keeping track of the digital ledger

There’s an incredible amount of potential for blockchain technology in the IP world, from registries to licensing to anti-counterfeiting actions.

The technology began life as a fundamental component of bitcoin, but it can be applied beyond the digital currency.

“Blockchain is a new way of storing data that allows all parties to have an accurate and shared source, without the need for a single gatekeeper,” says Marc Kaufman, partner at Rimon.

“The technology presents an opportunity for increased accuracy and transparency of data, and isn’t that what IP registries are all about?” he asks.

“The objectives of a trademark registry are to accurately record the identity of rights holders and the scope of their rights, and to make this information available to the public.”

According to Suzy Shinner, associate at Taylor Wessing, blockchain lends itself to use in the registration of IP rights such as copyright.

Copyright is an unregistered right in the UK, meaning there’s no real way of cataloguing copyrighted works.

“Ownership can be hard to prove, making it difficult for authors to see who is using the work and frustrating for third parties who are trying to figure out where to get a licence,” she says.

Blockchain can be used to show evidence of ownership and, once created, it can’t be changed or removed, making it resilient to fraud.

In terms of licensing, the big problem is “keeping track of everybody’s rights”, explains Kaufman.

“At present, that requires a bilateral arrangement between two parties, but blockchain can make information and terms available publicly and allow automatic acceptance with ‘smart’ contracts,” he says.

Smart contracts are self-executing upon certain conditions being fulfilled—which means that licences could become self-executing upon the use of a work, cutting out administrative costs.

Additionally, smart contracts can be tied into micropayments for the use of content, adds Shinner.

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