Concept to Coin: A New Era of Intellectual Property Protection
Submission by Big Idea, Inc.
06/09/2023
Abstract:
Concept to Coin is a powerful method to transform intellectual property into valuable assets. Using blockchain technology, ideas can be assigned unique identities and securely registered, granting their conceiver or originator attribution and proof of ownership. Another feature of blockchain and smart contract technology, known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allows tokenized ideas to transfer ownership, creating an ecosystem where ideas, concepts, designs, and inventions can be shared, purchased, or sold. This paper elaborates on the benefits and use cases of digitizing and tokenizing intellectual property, as well as how blockchain technology can be used to assign value, attribution, and proof of ownership for creators and conceivers.
Introduction
In the digital age, ideas are the driving force behind innovation, yet they are intangible and difficult to appraise. Ideas are as free as the air we breathe; the need to assign value to those ideas is crucial when attempting to convert them into intellectual property. The evolution of technology has led us into uncharted territory, complicating the nature of intellectual property and blurring the lines between public and private knowledge. For a complete picture of this landscape, one must go back to the beginning and understand the progression of technology to date and the intention of intellectual property law.
The Evolution of the Internet and the Emergence of Web3
The World Wide Web (WWW) in the 1990s ushered in the first wave of the internet, referred to now as Web1, or the first version of the internet. This iteration of the internet was mainly for content retrieval and therefore can be referenced as a Read-Only Internet.
The development of mobile devices and other technologies increased the availability of the web during the 21st century. These mobile device and technology users instantly became users of the internet, allowing people to be interconnected through the use of web applications. Users of these applications were able to share, communicate, collaborate, trade, and promote on a global scale. The growth of networks, communities, and social platforms increased user interactivity and engagement, giving rise to the internet as we know it today (called Web2 or the Read-Write Internet).
In recent years, a version of the internet known as Web3 has begun to emerge; its focus will be on ownership. It has become increasingly easy to upload and download content, but the current iterations of the internet do not leave a clear and obvious audit trail that connects the creator to his or her content. With the emergence of blockchain technology, a transparent and immutable audit trail can be established that links a digital item back to its original author. All transactions on public blockchains are visible and traceable, making it a perfect data system to be used as empirical evidence in intellectual property lawsuits. In the world of intellectual property, Web3 timestamps every event in an immutable log for content creators, aiming to provide proof of ownership.
Common Use of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property refers to the abstract or non-physical creations of the mind. There are several different types of intellectual property:
● Copyrights protect literary and artistic materials. Since copyright law focuses more on the expression of art rather than the art itself, there arises a need to show and prove ownership and authenticity of that expression. For composers, sheet music or MP3 files can be uploaded to a digital platform where they can be stored and potentially marketed, turning them into digital assets. An individual’s act of digitizing their own art, music, or literature and registering it as a digital asset is an expression of said individual’s creative ownership.
● Trademarks protect items associated with companies, such as logos or slogans, that inherently hold value as company assets.
● Patents protect inventions, granting exclusive rights to their creators. A patent differs from the other types of intellectual property in that it is an exclusionary right, meaning it excludes others from your invention. In order for something to be patented, it must not infringe on other patents and must be non-obvious. Patents and trademarks must be administered through the United States Patent and Trademark Office; however, this process is known to be long and cumbersome without any guarantees of acceptance. A recent example of a famous patent is Apple’s electronic device for the iPhone.
● Trade secrets protect valuable and confidential information, such as formulas, processes, or business practices, that provide a competitive advantage to a company; the Coca-Cola recipe is a perfect example. Trade Secrets are the only type of known intellectual property that covers ideas and concepts. A trade secret is information that is derived from independent economic value not known to other persons that someone has taken reasonable efforts to maintain in secrecy. That is to say, for companies to prove their intellectual property is a trade secret, they need to take reliable security and privacy measures while simultaneously proving its economic value. In 2016, the White House passed new legislation allowing the misuse of trade secret information (also known as misappropriation) to fall under federal jurisdiction. Even with the progression of trade secret law falling under federal protection, the battle to protect intellectual property continues to be a major issue.
As the global economy continues to grow, acquisitions and mergers present huge hurdles for transferring the ownership of intellectual property between two entities. Additionally, having the ability to share ideas and concepts in the digital realm continues to be a struggle for creators. Not only must they maintain a record of ownership and attribution, but in order for them to prove their concepts are intellectual property, they must prove they have economic value. Herein lies the necessity for a technological process that enables verified registration of intellectual property as digital assets on a public blockchain. To foster innovation, it is necessary to safeguard the inventive ideas of creators.
Trade Concepts
The digitization of ideas is the process of electronically recording and protecting ideas or innovations. It is a method to convert abstract thoughts into concrete, digital files. One method to achieve this could be entering all of this information into files on a computer, hashing them, and then registering that hash on a public blockchain. Another method could be utilizing a trusted third party to store all of the files and information pertaining to the idea. Digitization of an idea allows the conceiver to have proof of ownership they can use as evidence in any legal action.
It has always been difficult to classify ideas under intellectual property laws. An idea, in essence, is an initial thought or inspiration, while a concept is a more structured and refined understanding derived from that idea. Ideas can evolve into concepts as they are explored, refined, and developed further. This evolution is not linear, but rather a process to advance, define, and improve that initial thought until it develops into a concept.
If value can be associated with a concept, then this type of concept becomes a piece of protected intellectual property referred to here as a trade concept. As discussed previously, the expression of the idea is the intellectual property protected under copyright law. Additionally, a concept is a plan or intention of an abstract idea. Since an expression is the process of making one’s thoughts or ideas known, one could surmise that the plan or intention of an idea is in a way an expression of that idea. Therefore, a concept that serves as an expression of an idea or innovation derived from economic value should be protected under intellectual property law, similarly to copyright law.
Trade concepts require the use of an NFT to convert the concept, and all digital files associated with it, into a digital asset. Additionally, NFTs could be used to transfer ownership or fulfill licensing requirements. Since blockchains are immutable, the original blockchain cannot be altered, so the author will always remain the same. However, the NFT is a token that operates as a container, wrapping a digital asset in smart contracts built on the blockchain. A smart contract is self-executing code that forms a contract between all parties involved: in this case, anyone who interacts with the NFTs on the blockchain. Since NFTs can contain metadata, this also makes them a prime candidate to store the hash of the digitized idea. Trade Concept NFTs can be minted and digitally transferred, permitting a change of ownership and creating economic value through market demand. Since the smart contract language that governs this process sits on top of a decentralized blockchain, an unbreakable trail exists that ties the NFT creator to the digitized idea author.
Conclusion
The digitization of ideas provides a means to bridge the abstract realm and the perceivable, digital world. Simply digitizing these ideas does not solve the problem of intellectual property, however, as it fails to prove ownership and economic value. The emergence of blockchain technology can help solve this dilemma with the use of cryptographic hashing, blockchain registration, and the tokenization of digital assets. Public blockchains are known for being fully transparent, immutable, and censorship resistant. This makes it the perfect technology to record the proof of ownership, attribution, and a perfectly immutable audit trail from author to owner.
While trade concepts and tokenized ideas may not solve every scenario, they certainly provide an additional layer of protection in an industry in dire need of it. Technology has made it difficult to apply the practice of intellectual property law to digitally exchanged ideas, concepts, and innovations. The evolution of social media and online personal branding has created the need for development of shared digital spaces. In order for these environments to encourage collaboration, they must simultaneously protect each individual’s intellectual property. Digitized ideas and trade concepts offer layers of protection and security by utilizing cryptographic hashes and decentralized blockchain technology. They allow creators and conceivers to share and collaborate while also maintaining ownership and personal attribution. Inventors, creators, researchers, chefs, artists, and many others have the ability to benefit from their ideas through the monetization of their minds and the social collaboration of a community consisting of like-minded individuals. For innovation to flourish, innovators must feel they are encouraged, protected, and rewarded for their physical and intellectual efforts. Ultimately, it is the power of one’s ideas that shapes and defines their personal identity, leaving a lasting impact on the world.
