How Does Patenting Work for NFTs?

INTRODUCTION 

Non – fungible tokens or NFTs have become much more popular now in India, and there are ample names for big shots like Elon Musk and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey dealing with crypto and NFTs.

There is another person, Vignesh Sundaresan from India, a known Block chain professional who purchased one of the costliest artworks in the world from Christie’s and he brought it as an NFT at 59.3 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 NFTs duplication.

Any NFT can be tracked very easily. It is irreplaceable, for instance the Monalisa, the original variety of the artwork.

 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 programmable NFTs that are coming into questions. Tangible and intangible assets  came back all  forms of NFT, and painters can gave 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 solid assets as much, but they are actually the metadata of any kind of asset that can be linked with the Block-chain one needs to note down the details about the IP address and the Block-chain management procedure to move with the system of NFT patents. Hence there are a few points to note about NFT patents.”

• Primarily the creators first have to sign up to a certain Block-chain 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 Block-chain network. Adding the intellectual property happens after this. All the data and the information of IP is uploaded on the Block-chain. 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 Block-chain 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 Block-chain 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.

 Conclusion

In patent issues with regard to NFTs there is the relevance of smart contracts that mostly enable all kind of transactions that can be converted into a token and then a patent assigned. There are major rules and caveats that still exist in the practical implementation of NFT related to patents.  If you won of NFT does not always mean there will be the owner of the patent, for any kind of patent related work of NFT you can always go for a signed agreement and leant 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.

Written by:

 Priyanshu Jain.