Growing together in the IoT

For devices to communicate with one another, they need to speak the same language.

This is particularly important in the internet of things (IoT), where the number of ‘things’ connected to the internet first exceeded the number of people on the planet a decade ago, according to a 2015 report by technology consultancy LexInnova (“Internet of Things, IoT Day Special Edition”).

LexInnova said the IoT, defined as a “web of connected devices which can be controlled over a data network”, is an “all-pervasive technology”.

Collaboration is therefore a must, but bringing different industries together to develop and license innovations can be a challenge from an IP perspective.

William Jensen, managing associate at Marks & Clerk, observes: “The IoT has already begun to impact consumers’ daily lives with the arrival of smart thermostats, intelligent personal assistants, wearable tech, and connected cars.”

Amir Askarian, partner at Stratus Law Group, says the IoT “provides connectivity on a scale and level not seen before, by offering information about the devices we use without the need to be in physical proximity to them”.

Intel has suggested that 200 billion IoT devices will have materialised by 2020. If this prediction is correct, that figure equates to roughly 26 smart objects for every person in the world, so it’s safe to say that the IoT has the potential to transform the way we live, and the world we live in.

Innovation, collaboration, litigation

“The IoT necessarily results in strange bedfellows, where combinations of legacy technology can yield innovative service models,” says David St John-Larkin, partner at Perkins Coie.

This is particularly true given that, as companies seek to make their products part of the IoT, the technology sector will potentially be welcoming many new entrants, adds Jensen.

“Some of these companies may not have experienced the IP aspects of this sector before.”

According to Jensen, the approach of new entrants in the IoT market will have many implications. Will they buy new technology from existing players, or will they seek to develop it themselves? Are they are aware of the IP considerations, or the relevant regulatory requirements?

St John-Larkin foresees universities playing a predominant, if not dominant, role in forging these new collaborations and alliances.

“University technology transfer offices are long accustomed to dealing with different technology verticals and companies,” he says and are likely sources to galvanise the joint development activity necessary to facilitate the growth of the IoT.

Working side by side

According to Jensen, drafting standards that will underpin the efficient, real-time connectivity that the IoT requires has already begun: in June, members of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) approved the first complete set of 5G standards.

“Such a process necessarily involves the member companies of 3GPP sharing their technologies and, sometimes, their confidential information,” Jensen says.

For example, companies including Ericsson, Nokia, and Orange are working closely together to lead the development of 5G standards.

Raya Korotic, IP manager at biotechnology company Evogene, says: “The IoT presents a challenge to IP practitioners who need to adapt existing protection strategies to the rapidly changing, connected-yet-disconnected network of innovations forming the IoT.”

She explains: “By opening communications and application programming interfaces to more collaborator-yet-competitor devices, innovators must carefully guard their IP while at the same time facilitating interoperability and security among connected devices.”

Askarian says that, as the inventors in these different industries and areas collaborate with each other, those drafting the patent applications must also “adapt accordingly” to effectively capture the inventions.

In his opinion, the identity of the inventors behind a patent application should be determined and
re-evaluated throughout the patent application process.

If claims are amended during the process or in post-grant proceedings, inventorship may need to be altered to reflect the individuals who have contributed to whatever is being claimed at a particular time in that patent’s life, Askarian explains.

St John-Larkin adds that the evolution of the IoT may also lead to an increase in trade secret protection being sought for services that are not detectable, such as cloud-based services, “should other companies infringe a would-be patent”.

Standards needed

Kenie Ho, partner and chair of the IoT group at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, predicts that the development of IoT standards necessarily means more standard-essential patents (SEPs).

He adds that there is currently uncertainty around whether one standard will dominate the market, or whether multiple standards—“maybe a different one for each sub-industry”—will develop.

If the latter, “each different standard may have a different, overlapping portfolio of SEPs”, Ho says.

Jensen says that SEPs will continue to play a very important role in the IoT, and there will need to be “robust methods” to ensure licence agreements are fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory to avoid stunting the development of emerging technologies.

“The patent thicket for the IoT is already huge and it’s only going to increase further,” says Ho, adding that with this much ammunition for patent suits, it’s hard not to predict an increase in IoT patent litigation.

“Any IoT product is potentially walking into a minefield of patent suits,” he warns.

For example, Jensen suggests, “New entrants to the IoT market may easily fall foul of existing players’ patents and that lucrative applications for devices will emerge and be copied by others.”

Companies are currently working together to “build out the IoT market”, Ho says, developing new technologies and solving issues around data privacy compliance during this “honeymoon phase” of the IoT.

However, Ho predicts: “Once they start competing for market share, the patents and IP competition will move from a slow simmer on the back-burner to a raging boil on the main stove.”

An industry perspective

Although it was smartphones which laid the groundwork for the overwhelming demand for connected devices, the big money will really come from industrial IoT, such as agriculture, Ho explains.

St John-Larkin says that industrial IoT applications will lead the way in driving this growth.

Jensen similarly notes that it may well be “the application invisible to consumers that will have the most impact”, from efficiency improvements in manufacturing and agriculture to the automation of distribution processes.

“The ability to integrate electronic devices into the internet has the potential to create enormous efficiency savings and economic benefits,” Jensen says, and agriculture is “rapidly changing” with the introduction of the IoT.

Kevin Grant, chief technology officer at agriculture technology company Farmers Edge, says the agricultural industry is a “huge” beneficiary of the IoT movement.

A white paper released by Beecham Research in 2016, “Enabling The Smart Agriculture Revolution: The Future of Farming through the IoT Perspective”, said that agriculture is one of the most receptive and dynamic industries when it comes to technological innovation.

IoT applications in agriculture include farm vehicle tracking, livestock monitoring, and many other farm operations, says Korotic.

St John-Larkin adds: “The agricultural industry is rapidly incorporating IoT technology in many different verticals, including deployment of connected sensor networks in machinery, and the development of cloud services and analytics for land and farm management.

“The IP implications for all of this development are staggering,” he continues.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation has predicted that the global population will reach 9.6 billion by 2050, and food production must increase by 70% in order to keep up with this growth.

As connected devices in the IoT have the potential to provide the real-time data needed to track inventory, save costs, and heighten efficiency, they will probably play an instrumental role in meeting this need.

Of particular importance is “smart farming”: the use of sensors to monitor moisture and nutrient levels and distribute water and nutrients accordingly which, Jensen suggests, will prove invaluable as populations increase and water becomes scarce.

The extent to which the IoT will benefit the agricultural industry is interlinked with its ability to collaborate with other industries, especially when it comes to self-driving farm vehicles, drones, and sensor technology.

“Innovative advances in the IoT rely heavily on collaboration among inventors from multiple complementary, yet different, industries,” Askarian explains.

As noted by Korotic, “world giants from the high-tech field are stepping into agriculture” alongside startups such as Evogene. “These companies will revolutionise the agricultural industry,” she says.