NFT patents are relatively new in the market. The surge in their popularity, and tangible, and intangible asset verification everything is essential points to be noted while filing for an NFT patent. Creators must be careful about Blockchain and IP management in this regard.
How Does Patent Work for NFTs:-
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have become much more popular now in India, and there are ample names of bigshots like Elong Musk and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey dealing with crypto and NFTs.
There is another person, Vignesh Sundaresan from India, a known Blockchain professional who purchased one of the costliest artworks in the world from Christie’s, and he bought it as an NFT at 69.3 million dollars.
NFT is basically a digital token and is generally utilised as a digital certificate for ensuring the authenticity of any form of digital artwork. The question of a patent does arise, as there is very less chance of NFT duplication. Any NFT can be tracked very easily. It is irreplaceable, for instance, the Monalisa, the original variety of the artwork. You Can Register a Patent Today With Our Experts.
What About the Patentability of NFT?
IP India Patent Registration – It is not quite something new, but for several years now, the question of patenting NFT has been there. A smart technical company like IBM already has more than eighty patents in this field.
They have worked on those types of digital assets mostly that is cryptographically secure. Companies are filing patents in this digital platform for digital dealing with a large extent.
What Do You Need to Know About a Patent as an NFT?
- NFT extends to the domains of painting, song, games, cinema, sports, fashion industry, virtual tours, and forms of real estate and to any kind of digital items. There can be an individual who can enjoy ownership over any patent in the form of NFT. After this, when the patent rights get transferred, then the NFT owner has the sole authority or ownership himself.
- One can remain the owner of the patent even when there is an expiry of the patent. Patents which had a long history, like cars, telephones, and lightbulbs are a part of an extensive list. You can easily collect the patent of these valuable items, by using the NFT forms.
- There was a report published in Forbes, that out of total active US patents which amount to around 2.1 million in number, only a small amount of 5% have targeted the market. Almost all the other patents have major problems in getting any place as part of commercialisation. In India also, the scenario is not so good, and only 5% of the patents are able to reach out to Shoe Patenting.
The Process of Patenting for NFTs in India
There is a huge surge of NFTs in the last few years, and there is also the question of programable NFTs that are coming into question. Tangible and intangible assets can back all forms of NFT, and painters can have their paintings linked to NFT, singers can link songs and there can be a contract signed where the right can say that the painter and the singer can gain a certain amount of commission when each and every NFT gets sold. These are not the solid assets as such, but they are actually the metadata of any kind of asset that can be linked with the Blockchain. One needs to note down the details about the IP address and the Blockchain Management procedure to move on with the system of NFT patents. Hence, there are a few points to note about NFT patents:
- At first, the creators first sign up to a certain Blockchain platform, with the primary aim of patenting their work of art. Proper KYC verification is needed while they start and continue with their signing-in process.
- After this, the creator tries to upload the IP as part of the Blockchain network. Adding the intellectual property happens after this. All the data and the information of IP is uploaded on the Blockchain. There is the presence of traceability and information can also be audited, to prevent or restrict any kind of data mismanagement and manipulation.
- After this, the next step for NFT patents involves how there is a consumer request generation for using the content given. They register on the Blockchain management network and request permission from the creator so that they can use the content registered under the patent. There is a smart contract allowed after this so that the consumers can approach useful data and they can get all the relevant information related to the creator if they pay the requisite fee. If the consumer agrees to pay the fee amount, then there is the signing of an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).
- After this, there are many patent management companies and professionals who can take care of any dispute if it arises. In case of any patent management for NFT, the Blockchain is of immense value. There can be a breach of information, malpractice related to confidential information, authorship and content-related issue, transference of IP rights etc. Hence, the inventor’s consent and the type of rules related to NFT patents need to be clarified properly, before you go for it. The inventor can make an official complaint in case there is any breach of information.
How long can an NFT be patented in India?
The time limit is generally twenty years, but for the NFT patents, every day new discussions are going on about the topic. The popularity has been surging over the past few years. For instance, there have been multiple sales in the field of films and comics, one NFT collection by superstar Amitabh Bachchan reciting his father’s poem sold for 71.8 million dollars. Also, NFTs from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics collection have a large amount. In addition, another example is Indian artist Paresh Maity’s painting collection as art NFT sold at a huge amount on the WazirX platform.
Conclusion:-
In patenting issues related to NFTs, there is the relevance of smart contracts that mostly enable all kinds of transactions that can be converted into a token and then a patent assignment. There are major rules and caveats that still exist in the practical implementation of NFT related to Patent Search Process.
If you own an NFT, does not always mean that there will be the owner of the patent. For any kind of patent-related work to NFT, you can always go for a signed agreement and learn something from industry experts about the clauses altogether. Since the introduction of NFTs, there is also the possibility of their misuse, hence, you need to be careful.
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