Experts Discuss Future of IP in Light of Rapid Technological Development

On February 1 and 2, 2018 an international conference entitled “Intellectual Property in the New Technological Order” took place at the Skolkovo Innovation Center in Moscow. Leading Russian and international experts in the field of intellectual property (IP) came together to address changes occurring in the global IP system as a result of rapid technological progress.
If a patent can take up to five years to obtain, how can this form of protection continue to function in a world where new technologies are born and can die in the space of a few months? If a robot creates a work of art or a piece of music, who owns the IP behind it? Who owns the rights to big data? All these questions and more were tackled at this interactive event.

Hot topics

Great attention was paid to the rapidly-developing technology market and the use of technologies such as Blockchain in the IP system, as well as to the eventual growth of the value of information and the increasing role of intangible capital in global value chains. These and many other important issues were covered during the conference.

The event also served as a platform to share national best practices. Representatives from national patent offices and business from Australia, Chile, China, Egypt, Jamaica, Japan, Morocco, Russia, Singapore and Uganda took advantage of this unique opportunity.

International participation

About 500 participants representing more than 20 countries from five continents took part in the event.

The international conference was organized by WIPO, in cooperation with the Skolkovo Foundation and the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent).

High-level participants

The Russian Federation was represented by the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich who welcomed all participants and wished them a successful event in his opening statement.

In the last 10 years, a brand new sector of many small and medium-sized innovative businesses has appeared [in Russia], whose activities depend on intellectual property, so demand has risen for an effective system of IP protection.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Arkady Dvorkovich during his keynote speech at the plenary session.

WIPO was represented by Deputy Director General, Mr. John Sandage who also gave a keynote speech at the plenary session. Mr. Sandage highlighted the challenges for traditional IP institutions brought about by the advance of technologies such as Blockchain and AI and he noted that some of these challenges may actually turn out to be opportunities.

During his visit to Moscow Mr. Sandage met with high ranking officials from the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, as well as with the Russian business community at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

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