The Application of Blockchain for the Intellectual Property Protection

Abstract: With a far going protection of IP rights, the EU aims to protect the assets of companies which invested in innovative products. If the EU framework provides a far going mechanism of protection of IP rights, the complexity and the cost of this mechanism have been a barrier to the access of IP rights. In additional to these structural issues, the digital revolution introduced new challenges for the rightsholders. Blockchain can provide solutions to the protection of intellectual property rights. It offers the possibility for the rightsholder to register an IP right to the relevant authorities, to prove the ownership of a right, to manage these rights and collected the licensee fees attached to them, and lastly, to fight against counterfeit goods and contents. Blockchain can also be used by the other stakeholders who can control the origin of the good, its authenticity, but also verify it its own creation does not infringed any rights. In a digital context where these rights are fragilized, blockchain seems to be the perfect digital solution for extending the scope of protection of IP rights. But each solution has a price. Some of the factors that explain the lack of investment in the blockchain technology from public and private investors are the impossibility of identifying the members of a public network in the event of infringement of a right, the high costs that this technology represents, the technical knowledge that is required to use such a technology, and finally, the absence of a legal framework. Most of the issues in the blockchain are linked to the immaturity of the technology. For this reason, it is important, to give time to the technology to maturate before introducing rules which prohibit blockchains totally. So, if blockchain can be used the protection of IP rights, a theorical framework that provides a better understanding of the technology, and the potential applications and challenged it can raise is necessary. A better understanding in the area will contribute to the creation of a new legislation, and therefore, to new innovative tools for the protection of IP rights