IP and Innovation: Are we heading for Star Trek or Star Wars as Science Fiction becomes Science Fact?

Technology today would have seemed like science fiction to people fifty years ago.  In fact, wireless Bluetooth earpieces, handheld smartphones and tablet computers all appear ripped from science fictions novels, movies and television programs for the 1950’s and 60’s.  Recently NASA’s Ames Research Center reported its progress in creating a real-life tricorder, a device known well to Star Trek aficionados, which detects the health conditions of a patient (as well as detecting other things).  While the tricorder of Star Trek only collected data and perhaps generated a diagnosis, today our “real” technology includes innovations in which human made devices are acting like humans, generating “their” own IP content. For example, the IBM supercomputer WATSON has been tasked to analyze medical databases, patient records, journal articles, etc., to identify disease conditions, create new medical diagnostic tools, and identify new therapeutic treatments.

As more and more technologies that once were science fiction are now becoming reality, we look at how IP laws can deal with futuristic technology today.   While our technology continues to evolve we ask whether IP laws with their genesis in the Industrial Age are sufficient to to deal with technology of today and of the future.

On Friday October 17, at the 2014 ITechLaw Conference in Paris, Joren De Wachter and I will lead a discussion to explore these issues.  We will explore:

·               Who or what can create Intellectual Property?
·               Can devices, software, etc., create Intellectual Property?  If so, “who” owns the IP?  The owner of the machine? The operator of the machine? The inventor of the machine?
·               Can/should IP rights apply to inventions or creations made by machines?
·               If one interacts with a computer game, and the “game” generates IP content, who owns that content?  The gamer?  The game platform creator?
·               Are current IP laws and associated rights and restrictions adequate to cover emerging technologies?
·               What are the IP rights / limitations of third parties who implement technological innovations?

After the presentation and discussion, OP-IP will summarize the insights and remarks of the participants. 

© Stephen J. Weyer 2014

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