Enhancing intellectual property rights management through blockchain integration

There are 82 colleges and universities in Henan Province, Compared with the rapid expansion of education scale, the talented persons that are urgently needed and technological innovation facing the economic development actually relatively lag. The amount of patent application is very few in colleges and universities of Henan province, the working situation of colleges and universities' intellectual property right is serious and urgently awaits to strengthen. This article based from the crosswise comparison of patent application and authorized quantity in Henan province and the domestic developed provinces, longitudinal comparison of cities' in Henan province, analyze the present situation of intellectual property rights management in colleges and universities of Henan province, then from the aspets of the intellectual property rights idea, the intellectual property rights management structure, the intellectual property rights control system analyzed the questions and the reasons of intellectual property rights management existed in Henan province, finally from the government level, the university level and the enterprise level proposed the suggestion that strengthened the colleges and universities' intellectual property rights management.

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the legal regime governing intellectual property (IP) rights management in the domain of international space activities, with a particular emphasis on the framework of transnational consortia. It presents an interdisciplinary analysis that integrates legal, institutional-economic, and political dimensions of regulating the circulation of IP objects within cooperative space projects involving both public and private actors. The paper argues that, with the intensification of space commercialization, the growing involvement of non-state participants, and the acceleration of technology transfer, IP rights are acquiring not only a technical-legal character but also a strategic function. It is established that traditional national mechanisms for the protection and enforcement of IP rights are insufficient to address emerging challenges in this field, especially concerning objects created in outer space or within international research and technology initiatives. The author substantiates the need to construct a hybrid legal regime for IP governance that would combine the norms of international space law, national legislation, contractual instruments, public law provisions (notably export control), as well as the internal regulations and policies of consortia. Particular attention is given to the transnational space consortium as a novel form of global governance, distinct from the classical transnational corporation, yet fulfilling functions of coordination, institutionalization, and formalization of joint activities among public and private entities. It is emphasized that the establishment of an effective IP governance regime is contingent upon the institutionalization of ex ante licensing procedures, the creation of internal IP management bodies within consortia, and the development of algorithms for the equitable allocation of rights to the results of joint endeavors. The article also highlights potential risks of fragmentation of the international legal order stemming from the increasing autonomy of transnational consortia and the emergence of semi-autonomous normative regimes. In this context, the necessity of modernizing international space law is underlined, with the aim of ensuring a balance between the interests of private innovative development and the principle of equitable access to outer space.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to address the limitations of traditional methods for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) by proposing a blockchain-based solution. By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, the aim is to create a comprehensive ecosystem that offers advantages such as reduced transaction costs, improved transparency, enhanced security and increased liquidity levels for IP assets. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes using blockchain technology to manage intellectual property rights (IPRs) through a smart contract-based ecosystem. It outlines the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain to represent IPRs, with smart contracts automating interactions and encoding rules for various processes such as applications, licensing, transfers and royalty distribution. Governance mechanisms, such as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), are employed to allow stakeholders to propose and vote on contract changes, ensuring adaptability. This approach aims to streamline IPR workflows, reduce transaction costs, improve transparency and enhance security. Findings The findings of this study suggest that implementing a blockchain-based ecosystem for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) can lead to various benefits. These include reduced transaction costs, improved transparency, enhanced security, increased liquidity levels for IP assets and streamlined automated processes. The use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain allows for detailed management, valuation and trading of IPRs. Furthermore, simulation results demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our proposed ecosystem, outperforming traditional IP management systems in terms of transaction speed and cost-effectiveness. These simulations highlight the practical viability of integrating blockchain technology into IP management workflows. Practical implications The practical implications of adopting this blockchain-based ecosystem for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) are significant. By streamlining processes, reducing transaction costs and improving transparency and security, organizations can expedite the protection and commercialization of their IP assets. Additionally, the increased liquidity levels and accessibility of IP assets to investors and financiers can spur innovation and economic growth. Originality/value This paper contributes to the field by proposing a novel approach to managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) using blockchain technology and smart contracts. By leveraging non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain, the proposed ecosystem offers a more efficient and transparent way of managing IPRs, reducing reliance on costly and opaque traditional methods. The potential benefits include improved efficiency, transparency, security and collaboration in the management and commercialization of IPRs.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) management needs to evolve in a digital world where not only companies but also many independent content creators contribute to our culture with their art, music, and videos. In this respect, blockchain has recently emerged as a promising infrastructure, providing a trustworthy and immutable environment through the use of smart contracts, which may enable more agile management of digital rights and streamline royalty payments. However, no widespread consensus has been reached on the ability of this technology to adequately manage and transfer IPR. This paper presents an innovative approach to digital rights management developed within the scope of an international research endeavour co-financed by the European Commission named MediaVerse. The approach proposes the combined usage of smart legal contracts and blockchain smart contracts to take care of the legally binding contractual aspects of IPR and, at the same time, the need for notarization, rights transfer, and royalty payments. The work being conducted represents a contribution to advancing the current literature on IPR management that may lead to an improved and fairer monetization process for content creators as a means of individual empowerment.

The fast and unbridled growth of digital content presents enormous difficulties for intellectual property (IP) rights management. Conventional systems find it difficult with the natural digital complexity, simplicity of replication, and broad illegal use. This paper uses a methodical literature review and an analysis of more than 39 research publications released between 2018 and 2024 to handle this. These were assembled using especially pertinent keywords taken from main scholarly databases. Our study of these published works reveals that the IP recording and verification process is much enhanced by blockchain's distributed, open, immutable architecture. Smart contracts automate agreements; non-fungible tokens (NFTs) offer special ownership proof and the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) guarantees consistent, distributed storage for digital assets. Still, this paper emphasizes continuing problems including user adoption, legal uncertainty, and scalability constraints. Future studies have to aggressively close these gaps by creating scalable, legally strong, and easily Blockchain solutions. Moreover, incorporating artificial intelligence will be crucial for their widespread and efficient application.

The investment activity is diverse and can be carried out with the use of intellectual property rights in accordance with the current international and Russian investment law. The article aims to identify the specifics of the application of intellectual property rights as investments and the implementation of intellectual investments, i.e. investments endowed into intellectual property rights. The objectives of the study are to consider the categories of an investment and object of investment activity, intellectual property, exclusive and other intellectual rights, as well as to analyze and determine the features of legal regulation of the activity in question at the international and national levels in the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the systematic analysis with the use of formal legal, comparative and other research methods, it is concluded that investments as a property in a broad sense may include both exclusive and other non-personal intellectual property rights to the results of intellectual activity and equated means of individualization of goods, works, services and enterprises. At the same time, they exclude intellectual property itself as a set of various types of intangible products, moral and other personal non-proprietary intellectual rights by virtue of their inalienable and non-transferable character. It is argued to be the same with respect to the object of investment activity, i.e. the property which the investment is endowed in and is capable to bring income to the investor in the future. Investments into such intellectual property rights can be called as intellectual investments.The legal regulation of investment activity with the use of intellectual property rights has a dual character (in the sense that it is carried out by different investment legislative acts with the similar subject of their regulation) and depends on the type of a particular object used. If intellectual property rights are invested in fixed capital, then they are to be recognized as capital investments and are governed by the Federal Law of February 25,1999 No. 39-FZ “On Investment Activity in the Russian Federation Carried out in the Form of Capital Investments”. If intellectual property rights are used as the object of investment activity, i.e. where investments are endowed in, such intellectual investments are subject to the regulation by the Law of the RSFSR of June 26, 1991 No. 1488-1 “On Investment Activity in the RSFSR”.

PurposeAs firms turn their innovation activities toward collaborating with external partners, they face additional challenges in managing their knowledge. While different modes of intellectual property right regimes are applied in closed innovation systems, there seems to be tension between the concepts of “open innovation” and “intellectual property rights”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how firms best manage knowledge via intellectual property rights in open innovation processes.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a mixed methods approach, the authors review relevant literature at the intersection of knowledge management, intellectual property rights, strategic management of intellectual property rights and the open innovation process. The authors identify success drivers through the lenses of – but not limited to – intellectual property rights and classify them in five distinct groups. Expending the view on open innovation beyond its modus operandi, the authors develop the Open Innovation Life Cycle, covering three stages and three levels of the open innovation process. The authors apply their findings to a case study in the pharmaceutical industry.FindingsThe authors provide four key contributions. First, existing literature yields inconclusive results concerning the enabling or disabling function of intellectual property rights in open innovation processes, but the majority of scholars detect an ambivalent relation. Second, they identify and classify success drivers of successful knowledge management via intellectual property rights in open innovation processes. Third, they advance literature on open innovation beyond its modus operandi to include three stages and three levels. Fourth, they test their findings to a case study and show how management leverages knowledge by properly using intellectual property rights in open innovation.Practical implicationsThe findings support firms in managing knowledge via intellectual property rights in open innovation processes. Management should account for the peculiarities of open innovation preparation and open innovation termination to prevent unintentional knowledge drain.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to view open innovation as a process beyond its modus operandi by considering the preparations for and termination of open innovation activities. It also addresses the levels involved in managing knowledge via intellectual property rights in open innovation from individual (personal) to project and firm level.

It is important that SMEs assess their intellectual property and develop policies on the management of intellectual property rights to effectively and efficiently maximise the use of intellectual property rights in relation to threats from competitors. Managers sometimes use their IP rights to suppress other competitors from engaging in the production and distribution of products covered by the IP rights, thereby having the monopolistic power to raise prices of the products to increase profits. This study examines four ways managers at SMEs can adequately manage intellectual property rights which include (1) acquisition (2) exploitation (3) monitoring and (4) enforcement. One of the key conclusions of this study is that Managers should continuously check IP databases to determine the status of their intellectual property rights and whether there is any infringement on their intellectual property rights. Infringement of intellectual property rights can result to huge financial losses as a result of mass production, cheap and substandard copies of original products.

Problems setting. Legal restrictions in working with open sources often concern intellectual property, and the possibility of establishing such restrictions is an important problem. The Berkeley Protocol states that investigators should be aware of any intellectual property permissions they may need to lawfully publish, distribute, and/or otherwise use the information they gather during the investigation. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The use of information from open sources is subject to both legal and technical restrictions, such as third-party rights and platform rights, the validity of the license granted to the platform providing access, the technical requirements of the platforms, the purpose of use of the works, etc. The application of many OSINT methods may encounter legal restrictions, so these restrictions require systematization, additional analysis and description in accordance with the state of technology development. Purpose of the research is to describe and systematize the main legal risks associated with intellectual property when using information from open sources. Article’s main body. To achieve the goal of the article, the following widespread methods of OSINT are considered: text and data mining, image analysis, video analysis, audio analysis, face recognition, geolocation, improvement and use of open-source software products. Conclusions and prospects for development. The following risks of OSINT activities are identified according to the probability of their occurrence: – high degree: violation of copyright of its owner due to the difficulty of identifying that owner and the difficulty of managing the distribution of information in the global network; use of works or products (even from authoritative or familiar resources for the user) that violate the intellectual property rights of third parties; violation of intellectual property rights in one country without violation of the same rights in another country due to the lack of international unified laws; violation of platform license terms due to differences in such licenses and careless reading; violation of the license terms of the open source product due to differences in such licenses or incorrect (compared to the license) interpretation of the term “open source” by the user; ignoring the collection of permissions from a large number of parties involved; – medium degree: violation of the copyright of its owner due to the use of pirated works; violation of commercial secret rights; – low degree: violation of trademarks rights of faces; violation of patent rights for products used for a particular investigation due to lack of knowledge of such rights. To reduce such risks, the most obvious are the following actions: unification of national laws; implementation of special legal regimes for the use of information from open sources at the national and/or international levels; unification of license agreements of large platforms on a voluntary basis; training researchers in intellectual property issues; intensifying the implementation of technological solutions of intellectual property rights management, such as blockchain, encryption of works and watermarks; and noncommercial use of intellectual property rights, without going beyond the scope corresponding to the intended purpose.

Problem setting. The emergence of new technologies, competition, and market instability necessitate solving the problems of adapting an enterprise to external changes in the process of achieving strategic goals to ensure a sustainable and competitive existence, as well as adapting to rapid changes in the context of new technologies. However, strategic management of intellectual property for technology as an object of civil law relations by an enterprise on the basis of a single strategy is not always effective. Analysis of recent researches and publications on the topic shows that many scholars have studied the theoretical, methodological and practical essence of intellectual property strategies and intellectual property management. Thus, the type and nature of the interaction between technology and strategy have been effectively considered by Itami H., Numagami T. Raghavan M., Jain K., Jha S. K., considering the interaction of strategy and technology, based their conclusions on an interdisciplinary study of the strategy of sharing and intellectual property. Soares M. N., Kauffman M. E. developed an intellectual property strategy based on the company’s strategy and business model. Berge E., Kranakis E. in their publication tried to change the position of intellectual property from its current role as a factor of static capital (monopolistic power of the innovator) to a factor of dynamic efficiency (knowledge available to the public for further research). The authors also emphasized the effectiveness of the technology strategy and its coordination with the intellectual property strategy. Maslak V. M., Kobeleva A. V. and Pererva P. G. analyzed the most commonly used strategies for technology commercialization. Somaya D. made a study of patent strategy. Chaikina A. O., Shakun I. V. paid attention to the strategy of socio-economic development of the enterprise. The following scholars have devoted their works to the problems of strategic management and planning of enterprise development: Mikhailenko O. V., Garnaga V. V., Polyukhovych M. V. The issues of strategic management of intellectual property were studied by Kornilova I. M., Olikh L. A., Fedulova L. I. However, there are a number of unresolved issues related to the lack of a unified view of IP strategies, strategic management of technologies as IPR at an enterprise, uncertainty of factors influencing the effectiveness of the technology strategy and its alignment with the IP strategy, and debate on approaches to the formation and implementation of various IP management strategies at an enterprise. The purpose of the research is to determine the aspects of strategic management of intellectual property rights to technology as an object of civil law relations. And the focus of this study will be on an enterprise which will use strategic management of intellectual property for technology as an object of civil law relations in its activities. The novelty of the work lies in the author’s determination of the specifics of combining by an enterprise in its activities of intellectual property management strategies for technology as an object, which will allow to realize the set strategic goals for sustainable and competitive existence, as well as adaptation to rapid changes within the framework of new technologies. Article’s main body. The study has led to the conclusion that a meaningful definition of strategy can be a tool for achieving goals. The article emphasizes that, from the perspective of supporting a particular technological innovation, expansion of patentable objects, protection of intellectual property rights, and sharing of technologies indicate that there is cooperation in innovation between the subjects of innovation activity, and patent pools act as an important link between technologies and the intellectual property strategy of an enterprise. Conclusions and prospects for development. It is determined that since technologies remain important results of scientific and technical activities and relevant strategic resources, it is very important for an enterprise to combine in its activities an intellectual property strategy, a strategy for managing technological intellectual property and a patent strategy as part of an intellectual property strategy to maintain its competitive advantages. It is noted that the technology strategy is more focused on the technology itself, which is the result of scientific and technical activities or a resource (acquisition and use of technology) and can be involved together with the strategy of commercialization of technology rights. The combination of various strategies for managing intellectual property rights to technology as an object of civil law relations by an enterprise in its activities will allow it to realize its strategic goals of sustainable and competitive existence, as well as adaptation to rapid changes in new technologies. The types of strategies that an enterprise may implement with regard to the use of rights to technology as an object of civil law relations presented in this study are not exhaustive and do not exhaust the possible criteria for allocating other types of strategies. Prospects for further research are the criteria for allocating other types of strategies for combining the use of technology rights as an object of civil law relations.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate innovations in intellectual property rights (IPR) databases, techniques and software tools, with an emphasis on selected new developments and their contribution towards achieving advantages for IPR management (IPRM) and wider social benefits. Several industry buzzwords are addressed, such as IPR-linked open data (IPR LOD) databases, blockchain and IPR-related techniques, acknowledged for their contribution in moving towards artificial intelligence (AI) in IPRM. Design/methodology/approach The evaluation, following an original framework developed by the authors, is based on a literature review, web analysis and interviews carried out with some of the top experts from IPR-savvy multinational companies. Findings The paper presents the patent databases landscape, classifying patent offices according to the format of data provided and depicting the state-of-art in the IPR LOD. An examination of existing IPR tools shows that they are not yet fully developed, with limited usability for IPRM. After reviewing the techniques, it is clear that the current state-of-the-art is insufficient to fully address AI in IPR. Uses of blockchain in IPR show that they are yet to be fully exploited on a larger scale. Originality/value A critical analysis of IPR tools, techniques and blockchain allows for the state-of-art to be assessed, and for their current and potential value with regard to the development of the economy and wider society to be considered. The paper also provides a novel classification of patent offices and an original IPR-linked open data landscape.

The integration of smart contracts within blockchain technology represents atransformative approach to intellectual property rights (IPR) management, fundamentally altering traditional copyright enforcement mechanisms. This article demonstrates how distributed computer networks combined with automated regulatory devices provide superior alternatives to conventional IPR handling methods. Smart contracts reduce the need for arbitration through automated execution of predetermined terms and coding protocols. The implementation of blockchain-based smart contract systems enhances proprietary rights management, which can be particularly relevant for the BRICS nations currently facing evolving digital governance challenges. Research indicates that automated proprietary system networks are progressively superseding traditional IPR management approaches. The development of automated governance systems, coupled with decentralized IPR frameworks, presents both opportunities and regulatory challenges for the BRICS countries. Embedded payment mechanisms within smart contracts ensure automatic royalty distribution when copyrighted content is accessed, eliminating manual processing burdens and associated costs for creators. The implementation of smart contracts also enhances agreement integrity and reduces plagiarism risks through the use of immutable blockchain records. This study examines how organizations can establish enhanced trustworthiness and optimize digital business processes through blockchain-based copyright management. Advanced analytical tools accelerate the understanding of both the benefits and limitations within current copyright frameworks. Users are able to seamlessly access blockchain systems, creating multiple account types as required. Every blockchain entry provides transparent records of content usage and account activities. The digital system prevents misrepresentation by maintaining visible platform activities that are accessible to all stakeholders, ensuring comprehensive transparency of development and execution history for all agreement participants.

The rendezvous between intellectual property rights and human rights has awakened slumbering legal spirits. Miscellaneous legal phenomena are now nestled in the intersection between intellectual property rights and human rights. However, the interplay between human rights and intellectual property rights is bizarrely characterized by amity and hostility. Naturally, therefore, situating indigenous intellectual property at the intersection of intellectual property and human rights becomes a daunting task. However, the dilemma is often overstated especially from the point of view of conventional intellectual property rights. At the outset of this Article, I shall be exploring the history and the development of the relationship between human rights and intellectual property rights. In the followng section, I shall be examining the extent to which intellectual property rights are entrenched in the international human rights instruments. The last section shall be devoted to exploring the phenomenon of locating indigenous peoples' rights at the interface between intellectual property rights and human rights and reflecting on the ensuing issues—an aspect which has seldom been considered in the existing literature.

The aim of the study is to introduce a new application of machine-learning techniques (text mining, clustering and classification) and the blockchain technology within the intellectual property rights (IPRs) management system. Using such machine-learning techniques facilitates the management process of intellectual properties (IPs) and makes it more efficient. Additionally, using the blockchain technology for IPRs management purposes enables all stakeholders to utilise the extracted data of the IP objects from the blockchain network. In this study, a text-mining technique was used to identify the two types of IP documents based on specific categories, namely, patent and trademark. In order to achieve this objective, a range of machine-learning techniques was used for 5,500 patent documents and 400 trademark documents. The results of the logistic regression model showed a high level of prediction accuracy of document type at the pre-registration stage on the blockchain network. This high level of prediction accuracy demonstrates that using machine-learning and text-mining techniques will facilitate the IPRs management system. This new application of specific machine-learning techniques in the IPRs management process contributes essentially to solving the problem in a conventional IPRs system associated with rights protection and data availability.

This Research is Owned by Enterprises Villages and their management in Intellectual Property Rights are important to study. This law hopes that villages can develop more than before. The village is expected to develop through the management of village funds into village-owned enterprises. This management can be in the form of making products of the effectiveness and creativity of the community which is then registered as Intellectual Property Rights so that a village has different characteristics from other villages which certainly gives added value to this village. Success in management can be achieved if the village government and the community can understand the legal processes and rules for managing Intellectual Property Rights, so this becomes important. This research was conducted to ensure that the implementation of Village-Owned Enterprises and the management of Intellectual Property Rights in village products can be carried out properly following applicable norms. This research was conducted by socio-legal research methods by analyzing primary and secondary data to find conclusions. The results of the study stated that many villages that have been studied do not understand Intellectual Property Rights so that no village products or village communities are registered with Intellectual Property Rights. There is even concern for the community that causes community products not to be included in the Village Owned Enterprises related to revenue sharing.