Since my last blog post (two years ago) a lot has changed. The technology of 3D-printing has made great progress. And the world of Intellectual Property has started to react to the challenge posed by 3D-printing. Which, in turn, has caused a surprise reaction by the 3D-printing community. 1. What is 3D-printing? Although 3D-printing Read more …
Tag Archives: technology
Copyright in the digital age: the UK’s “Digital Copyright Exchange feasibility study” analyzed.
In earlier blogs, I have analyzed why the current copyright system is not fit for the digital age. I have also provided some elements of a solution; one key element I see for any survival of the copyright system is to impose a system of registration, together with breaking down the power to withhold legal Read more …
When everything becomes software, how does that affect IP strategy?
Everything becomes software Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and currently co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz, wrote in August 2011 in the Wall Street Journal about how “Software is eating the world”. While Mr Andreessen was building on earlier observations, such as the author of this article, that software is the Read more …
Three insights into how Intellectual Property can benefit an innovative business.
All technology businesses innovate. It is what they do. They tackle a market opportunity by innovating. But innovation can happen at any level. It can be inventing a new technology, it can be process or method based, it can be through applying existing ideas in a novel way, or in many other ways. A key Read more …
Do IP rights actually promote innovation? A review of the recent US DoC report.
Are stronger IP rights good or bad for innovation? There is very little empirical evidence. A recent report by the DoC claims to provide this evidence. Unfortunately, even a first reading demonstrates that the report is worse than worthless, it is downright misleading. Introduction What is the effect of IP rights on the economy Read more …
Will Big Data kill Intellectual Property Rights?
With the explosion of data, IPRs are under threat. IPRs aim to create artificial scarcity, but the growth of data under IPR protection is vastly inferior to the growth of non-protected (“open”) data. Because of their characteristics, IPRs are not able to tackle the growth of Big Data, and will therefore probably drown in a Read more …
Hollywood vs Silicon Valley – who will win?
The conflict between Hollywood and Silicon Valley is, at a deeper level, one between Content and Function, which I think Function will win. But there’s more: Content is also struggling, because there is simply too much of it. The combination of a data flood of biblical proportions with exploding possibility of function, will drown any Read more …
The SOPA discussion in a larger context
Technology is breaking down the distinction between Content and Function. This has a profound effect on Business Models based on IP rights. The SOPA discussion is a good example of the fight between Function and Content – which IP right will win? What is Content, what is Function? Content is the stuff you access Read more …
Four reasons to take the driver out of the car
At TEDx Brussels recently, Paul Rojas made a presentation (you can see it here) about a car driven by a computer. The project has been very successful; from a technology point of view, a human driver is, today, no longer necessary. That got me thinking – would it be a good idea to abolish human Read more …
A solution to patent warfare (and trolls)
Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) are hot in the media these days. Headlines about patent trolls, the great patent bubble, patent warfare, pirate parties and the broken patent system appear almost daily. This is good, because there are obvious problems with our IPR system. It seems that most observers are agreeing that the current IPR system risks Read more …