Blockchain Technology in IPR- A Call for Innovation

Introduction

The future starts with innovation and the protection of intellectual property fosters it . The idea if
not protected can not provide it’s full benefit, ultimately hampering the process of future
development. In the Intellectual property regime it is very important that the inventor has complete
knowledge of the use of his work, but with the invent of a higher standard of digitalisation at such a
great pace, the infringement of these intellectual property rights have increased. As the intellectual
property is as important as any physical property, fulfilling the objective of providing economic
well as moral benefit is needed.

The concept of Blockchain technology has gained momentum in past few years the reason being
that, this technology provides a decentralised and more efficient way to deal with the works . With the use of this technology in the legal frame lawyers can simplify all the digital as well as non- digital work. Along with it’s use in contracts , management and sorting of documents, litigation and settlement, the technology can prove to be very beneficial if implemented along with the IPR arena .

The article explains the working of blockchain technology and it further provides the need 
of using blockchain technology in the IPR regime.

What is a blockchain technology :

Blockchain, is refereed to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), which makes the history of
digital assets immutable and transparent through decentralised and cryptographic hashes. The
blockchain consists of three important concepts: blocks, nodes, and miners. Each blockchain
consists of multiple blocks, and each block has three basic elements. Data in blocks, a 32-bit
integer called a nonce.

The nonce is randomly generated when the block is created and a block
header hash is generated. The hash is a 256-bit number associated with the nonce. It must start with
a large number of zeros (that is, very small). When the first block of the chain is created, nonce will
generate a cryptographic hash. The data in the block is considered signed and is permanently bound
to the nonce and hash unless it degrades.

Miner
The miner creates new blocks in the chain through a process called mining. In the blockchain, each
block has its own nonce and hash, but mining blocks is not easy, especially in large chains, as it also refers to the hash of the previous block in the chain. Miners use specialized software to solve
the very complex math problem of finding a nonce that produces an accepted hash. With only 323
bits of nonce and 256 hashes, there are about 4 billion combinations of nonce hashes that need to
be mined before the correct one can be found. When that happened, the miners should have found a
"golden nonce" and their blocks would be added to the chain.

If you make changes to a block early in the chain, you must save all subsequent blocks, not just the changed block. This makes it very difficult to operate blockchain technology. Think of it as "mathematical certainty", as finding a golden nonce requires tremendous time and computing power. If the block is successfully mined, the changes will be accepted by all nodes in the network and the miners will be rewarded . 

Node

One of the most important concepts of blockchain technology is decentralization. Computers and
organizations cannot own chains under this system. Instead, it is a distributed ledger across the
nodes connected to the chain. A node can be any type of electronic device that keeps a copy of the
blockchain and makes the network work.

Each node has its own copy of the blockchain, and the network must algorithmically approve each
newly mined block in order to update, trust, and validate the chain. The transparency of the
blockchain makes it easy to see and view all the actions in your ledger. Each participant receives a
unique alphanumeric identification number that identifies their transaction . The combination of public information and a check-and-balance system helps the blockchain maintain integrity and build trust between users. In essence, blockchain can be thought of as the scalability of technology trust.

With increasing success of crypto currencies the use of this technology is being implemented in
more and more fields. It is found to have potential for transforming the structure of e-payment, legal
contracting, electronic media record, education credential and storing and sorting of information
electronically . Hence block chain can be seen as the need of future technology. Law being a 
dynamic field has to cope up with every scientific evolution, law not only deals with people but people living in an environment. Where the environment is witnessing change, law has to cope up
with those changes and grow accordingly.

Hence the implementation of blockchain technology in the legal field becomes important. In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest. With an increasing number of venture capital investments and blockchain-related patent applications, minimal practical product testing to consider larger live implementations or invest heavily in development more and more companies are moving towards proprietary blockchain software. The key features of blockchain technology, such as the ability to record and store information in a distributed database, immutability, and the ability to eliminate intermediaries, make it suitable for industries such as financial and legal services (for example, multiple parties are the same) to access the database to track information about the product.

Use of blockchain in IPR

The blockchain works on a distributed ledger technology. Multiple separate computers (nodes) are
used to record, share, and synchronise transactions in their individual electronic ledgers. Blockchain
might be utilised as a platform for inventors to list their inventions/digital works in the form of
ledgers with brief descriptions, thereby operating as an IP marketplace8. In addition, inventors/
patent holders who are in search of potential licenses can be acquainted with the criterions of
invention . 

In the cases of invention it is comparatively an easier task to attain patent by applying for it in the
patent office but it becomes difficult in the case of creations under the copyright as the lack of
official documentation hinders the use of ownership by the creator thus the Blockchain technology
also acts to protect these IP rights. From the perspective of management it will create a unified
decentralised system and accelerate the distribution of these information in the form of ledger .

Copyright companies can assist users resolve all types of conflicts with the help of the blockchain,
whether they wish to prove proof of authorship, communicate secret information with partners,transfer IP rights, or opt to launch a defensive publication. Rather than scheduling a meeting with a
lawyer, they can give lawyers access to the original publication, which is stored on the blockchain . 10
A lawyer can swiftly prove whether or not the organisation is misrepresenting in case of any
copyright infringement due to blockchain's ability to save time-stamped and auditable documents.

Content providers who want to patent their work would have to sign up for a blockchain-based IP
management platform and upload their intellectual property to the blockchain. There is no risk of
data disclosure without the user's agreement because personal information will be maintained on the
blockchain. After successfully registering on the site, the following step is to add an intellectual
property for which a patent application is required. On the blockchain network, content creators can
submit IP-related information.

A content creator can upload their intellectual property after entering the above information.
Traceability and auditability are enabled by storing it on the blockchain, preventing data alteration
or duplication. Once the intellectual property has been added to the blockchain, it may be made 11
visible to all other members of the network and cannot be changed.

With easy access to these intellectual properties the duplication of the unique ideas has become
easier. These ideas are copied for monitory benefits without the owners or the authors knowledge ,
this unlawful infringement by a third party is essential to be taken care of in order to protect the IP
rights of individuals. In addition, these intellectual properties form the crux of any business
organisation hence, for the growth of the organisation it is important to protect them. Business
companies specially the small-scale businesses have to be very prudent with respect to their goods
and services along with the ideas and protection of them is needed on a greater scale. As these
companies aim towards a rapid growth, time management and organisation of work plays a very
important role, inception of Blockchain technology in building those business and protection as
well as working of IPR helps to boost the organisational operations.

Conclusion

With the increasing number of IPR registration each year India and other countries have seen a
surging of data inputs under the IPR sector. These datas are important to be stored and verified
when needed. Intellectual properties are one of there unique in themselves for there very nature of
being intangible. This not only makes it difficult to prove the rights but also the amount of data
related to each property increases.

In such cases it is very important to have a managed and protected form of working by the organisations dealing with the intellectual property rights. Blockchain as a concept is simple and the implementation systematic. Merging the field of IPR along with the Blockchain technology can give rise to a better working of the IPR sector.