Highlights of Technology & Innovation Shaping the Future of IP

Reinout van Malenstein, partner at HFG, attended the World IP Forum (WIPF) at the Landmark hotel in Bangkok from 10 to 12 October 2022.

The World IP Forum (WIPF) is a Global IP event on Intellectual Property. It is dedicated for knowledge sharing and it is a platform for accumulation of IP practitioners from around the world under a single roof where they can spread knowledge and share ideas for future inception. There were around 500 attendees this year.

The theme of the conference was "Technology & Innovation Shaping the Future of IP". Interesting presentations and panel discussion were on the following topics:

- Must inventors and authors be human? I.e. should intellectual property only be available to creations of the human mind?

- The collision of data privacy and cybersecurity. I.e. how to protect data privacy, so that international laws are followed and cybersecurity is not breached.

- The Metaverse and the implications for intellectual property rights and data protection. I.e. should there be separate digital classes for the metaverse, should every class just be the same as in the normal world, or should there be separate subclasses for the metaverse.

- The use of trademarks and copyrights by influencers. i.e. Should they be accountable for selling counterfeit products and using copyrights in general?

- Blockchain, NFTs and the future of intellectual property. Is IP moving in the digital world? How to protect this?

- Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and FRAND. How should this be further regulated in the world?

- Artificial intelligence and intellectual property. I.e. Can AI create IP?

- Unitary patent and unified patent court. After decades of waiting the European unitary

- Patent and patent court are finally there. How does it work in practice?

HFG thanks the organizing committee of the WIPF for an excellent conference.