In the future, companies will use these technologies for the management of their Intellectual Property as a natural part of their business. This ranges from the automatic generation of patent applications to the use of artificial intelligence in IP management. The initial use of artificial intelligence will give companies the opportunity to keep an overview of the patent landscape and to determine the value of new patents. Intelligent software for the automated reading and analysis of patents will become a standard tool in IP management. Automated prior art searches, which are already possible today, will be further optimized using intelligent algorithms to grow faster, more precise, and more reliable. With the use of self-learning systems in IP management, there will be entirely new options for using, utilizing and actively developing the IP of the future.
The speed gap between the development of IP on the one hand, and the possibilities of traditional institutions for its protection on the other, will increasingly lead to the creation of alternative strategies and processes for handling IP in the next few years. If patent and trademark offices do not meet the growing demand for speed, companies will develop their own mechanisms for the protection of their IP.
One possibility is the use of blockchain technology as a new protective mechanism. Blockchain technology offers companies the option to forgo the protective promise of traditional IP rights (IPRs), but at the same time still provides security by using an independent third party – the blockchain. In addition to non-registered IPRs, blockchain technology can also be used for registered IPRs. For example, utility models already have some characteristics of a blockchain solution, as an IPR is registered with both inventor and time of entry with absolute certainty.