Intellectual property rights in a digital world

Once upon a time, everything invented was either free, in the public domain, or kept secret in the medieval guilds. Since then, intellectual property rights were conceived to combine publication with protection against copying or other forms of unauthorised use.

Over the past two decades, legislative efforts have been made in many countries to broaden the scope of such intellectual property protection. But, despite these measures, the enforcement of intellectual property is facing serious challenges in view of recent technological developments. At the same time, market and cultural pressures are increasing tolerance for open breaches of intellectual property rights, with some of the largest corporations openly infringing others’ rights.

Just as the number of experts calling for a legal paradigm shift is growing, new ideas, inventions and technologies are being brought into the market through business models that do not necessarily rely on the conventional manner of intellectual property protection and enforcement. Are we witnessing a resurgence of the public domain? Moreover, as stated by Bill Thompson of the BBC: “We are bootstrapping a new world, one in which information technology and computational systems are as deeply embedded in our society as the scientific method or religious belief seem to be.”

IT industries and software houses, media and entertainment corporations, pharmaceutical and automotive companies have been overwhelmed by these developments. IP Lawyers must provide counsel to their clients at a time during which well-established principles of intellectual property rights protection are being called into question, both in practice and in theory. The seminar will explore the different uses of intellectual property rights in the current digital age, in which global and instant communication systems enable ‘anytime, anyplace’ access to information and protected rights.

Stakeholders will discuss the ways in which new inventions and technologies are brought to the market through business models that are no longer simply based on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Where such models do indeed exist, the speakers will explore the legal matrix in which they operate and how rights holders look to protect their rights and their revenue streams.

Please download the programme and the registration form.