Building: International conference on Economics, Accounting and Finance
Room: zoom
Date: 2021-11-05 10:05 AM – 10:20 AM
Abstract
The development of the information society causes institutional issues such as problem of trust, high costs of managing large amounts of information, risks of information attacks and the possibility of damage or loss of data due to various circumstances, including fraud, theft, or unauthorized use [1].
The decentralized approach and the use of a consensus mechanism, in which the final state of the accounting system database is well protected from changes used in blockchain technology, enables accounting systems with multiple independent validators to achieve secure database synchronization and unchangeable data [2]. Blockchain technology is a way of creating a shared database that can record and track transactions and assets.
Blockchain has prominent implications in various domains such as cryptocurrency, health care, real estate, voting systems, supply chain and logistics, etc. Considering the security, transparency, and immutable nature, blockchain can be applied for managing intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, and industrial designs [3].
Ownership of IP. The potential IP-related application of blockchain is verifying the authenticity of ownership. In case of copyright, it is difficult to secure IP-ownership because of the lack of any official documentation, and the onus of proving ownership of a creative content lies with the creator. Exercising the copyright has become even more challenging in the era of internet, where anyone can download the content created such as a recorded song, a photograph, painting, etc. and can freely use it at will [4].
Proving the date of content creation is important in many situations and crucial for data used as evidence. For example, inventors must prove when exactly they put forward a patentable invention to obtain a patent. Trusted timestamping protocols, which rely on asymmetric cryptography, are used to prove that data has existed and has remained unaltered since a certain point in time [5].
Transfer of IP-rights. Blockchain and smart contracts can be used for licensing IP works by reducing the cost of transactions and creating a direct link between authors/inventors and users [3]. Smart contracts are agreements written in code that automatically perform programmed functions in response to certain conditions fulfilled by the parties to the agreement as a computer protocol, which based on mathematical algorithms translated into computer code, independently performs operations with full control over their execution. Using smart contracts, IP licenses can be self-executing upon the use of a work.
IP marketplace. Blockchain is the technology that record, share, and synchronize transactions in its respective electronic ledgers. It can be used as a platform where inventors can place their inventions/digital works in the form of ledgers thereby acting as an IP marketplace.
Keywords
References
- Volodymyr Marchenko, Alla Dombrovska. On Determining the Legal Nature of Smart Contracts - [E-resource]. – Access mode: https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.210320.031
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- Miriam Stankovich. Is Intellectual Property Ready for Blockchain? - [E-resource]. – Access mode: https://dai-global-digital.com/is-intellectual-property-ready-for-blockchain.html
- Sumit Prasad. The Future of Blockchain in Intelectual Property - [E-resource]. – Access mode: https://www.automation.com/en-us/articles/january-2021/the-future-of-blockchain-in-intellectual-property
- Yuefei Caro, Hajme Nobuhara. A Decentralized Trusted Timestamping Based on Blockchain. - [E-resource]. – Access mode: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272359313_Decentralized_Trusted_Timestamping_using_the_Crypto_Currency_Bitcoin.