Dramatic Changes

There are new challenges related to IP legislation, office practices, and policy environments, as new business models and technologies advance faster than the pace of legislative change.

The report said: “As machines become more sophisticated and move to more predictive analysis, they will be able to implement simple decision points previously made by humans.”

This development in artificial intelligence (AI), according to the report, will be a game-changer for IPOs and rights owners in the future.

But there are also challenges in the IP sphere relating to human contributions affecting inventorship, ownership, and patentability.

“A fundamental concept of the IP system is to grant IP rights to protect concretion of ideas. This poses many questions relating to whether the current IP framework should be amended to incorporate these AI-based thinking machines and their inventions to be eligible for IP rights,” noted the report.

IPOs will also need to look closely at the next generation of IP owners. It pointed out that while the current IPO user base is predominantly from Generations X and Y (aka the millennials), the future consumer base will be largely populated by Generation Z (defined as those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s).

“Keeping up with new consumers’ behaviors will drive IP rights owners’ decisions, and the IPO of the Future needs to be ready,” said the report.

Becoming the IPO of the Future

What are the key features a modern IPO requires to address these momentous changes?

“Over the next 10 to 20 years, IPOs must be prepared to adapt in order to address challenges and make the most of the opportunities that present themselves,” said the report.

These challenges will require the IPO of the Future to:

• Evaluate how best to integrate new tools, increase inclusiveness, and recruit a new generation of employees with a diverse skillset
• Work with other IPOs to develop solutions and tools that can be shared, to further harmonize processes, practices, standards, and tools across regions in an inclusive way
• Work with domestic and foreign stakeholders from the public and private sectors to offer tailored products and quality, relevant services
• Support research and innovation ecosystems, by helping public and private stakeholders to navigate such ecosystems and to develop a better understanding of IP trends, issues, and benefits

A Framework for the Future

To achieve the above aims, the IPO of the Future Think Tank has included in its report a case study analysis highlighting the experiences of IPOs in the wake of COVID-19—indicating how IPOs “must adapt in order to survive, and in some cases thrive, through economic and societal disruptions.”

Some of the key issues the case study identified in response to COVID-19 are highlighted below.

Harmonization

IPOs introduced short-term blanket extensions of filing and renewal timelines, leading to a complicated international regulatory patchwork. This demonstrates the need for increased collaboration and transparency.

Finances Resources and Stewardship

Financial planning and forecasting became even more important in understanding how market trends, expected applications, and internal production could maintain revenue sources through the pandemic.

Data-Driven Solutions

IPOs with the capacity for economic analysis and modelling were able to anticipate IP application trends, ultimately informing decisions and allowing these IPOs to remain financially robust.

Supporting Innovation

IPOs needed to understand how their IP data could be used and shared with researchers to develop, deploy, license, or commercialize inventions that could respond to COVID-19. Some IPOs introduced compulsory license provisions for COVID-19-related technologies, while a few provided accelerated examination for similar technologies.

Increasing Market Efficiency

IPOs found ways to increase understanding and improve the sharing of information in the marketplace, assisting companies wishing to retool or pivot production lines to produce medical devices.

Informing Policy Development

Some IPOs were able to gather intelligence and leverage their IP expertise to inform government emergency response policies, ensuring an alignment with government priorities.

The In-House Practice of the Future

INTA’s “In-House Practice of the Future Think Tank” report examined the roles and responsibilities of in-house IP attorneys, the impact of technology on the practice, and core competencies for, and obstacles to, creating the brand legal team of the future—10 years from today.

According to the report’s executive summary: “In the future state, trademarks will continue to be the key area of responsibility; however, the roles will evolve, as the nature of the work continues to change, and in-house teams take on additional responsibilities. Because of this we will refer to in-house practitioners of the future as brand counsel or brand legal teams.”

The legal scope will expand to include other areas of IP and adjacent legal areas such as marketing and advertising law, digital issues including e-commerce, social media, privacy, and data protection, as well as regulatory issues, it said.

From a technology perspective, teams will be expected to use automation and data analytics tools to improve processes and efficiencies.

Looking at the current environment, the report noted that the COVID-19 pandemic aside, companies’ legal resources and budgets are tighter than ever, and in-house teams “are being asked to do more with less.”

“We anticipate that this trend will continue,” the summary said, “and that the members of the brand legal team will continue to morph into true business advisors who are tasked with managing risk on an agile basis.”