Intellectual Property Rights & NFTs - Exploring the Legal & Practical Issues

Introduction

Intellectual Property Rights are potentially highly lucrative assets in the context of the metaverse and online virtual environments.

The rapid rise and continued emergence of blockchain technologies, most notably, non-fungible tokens (‘NFTs’), have revolutionised the ownership and trade of digital assets across a range of industries, including art, fashion, and gaming.

The protection, and enforcement, of trade marks and copyright in a virtual environment is becoming increasingly important for content creators and businesses and the rapid development of blockchain technologies presents a new environment for the creation and consumption of online content.

The growth of these technologies provides rights holders with boundless opportunity to commercialise their rights in a new environment and for new audiences, but also presents a range of legal and practical challenges.

This new virtual classroom seminar will take a look at some of the key legal and practical challenges NFTs and other blockchain technologies create for the protection, exploitation and enforcement of copyright and trade marks.

The session assumes a basic knowledge of copyright, trade marks and blockchain technologies.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Background on NFTs and the ‘metaverse’:
• The key elements of NFTs
• What is the ‘metaverse’? An overview of different forms of ‘metaverse’ including ‘centralised’ and ‘decentralised’ environments
• Recent developments and current trends
• Trade Marks:
• Registering trade marks for a virtual world - how to ensure trade marks are tailored for a virtual world
• Recent guidance from the UK and EU trade mark registries
• Enforcement issues - a review of the key legal and practical issues for proprietors looking to enforce their trade marks
• Practical tips to improve enforcement in a virtual environment
• Copyright:
• Subsistence - how can NFTs be protected by copyright?
• How NFTs fit with the UK’s ‘closed list’ of copyright works - does this matter post Cofemel?

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.