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Doldirina, Catherine --- "Intellectual property rights in the context of space activities" [2015] ELECD 264; in von der Dunk, Frans (ed), "Handbook of Space Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) 949

Book Title: Handbook of Space Law

Editor(s): von der Dunk, Frans

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781000359

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: Intellectual property rights in the context of space activities

Author(s): Doldirina, Catherine

Number of pages: 46

Abstract/Description:

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) represent one of the most suitable and potentially effective mechanisms to protect the results of developing downstream applications of space activities, particularly in the environment of privatization, commercialization and increased private investment in space activities. IPRs are comprised of various sets of tools to protect distinct subject-matter like trademarks, geographic indications, industrial designs or even traditional knowledge. However, most applicable to the (intellectual or intangible) results of space activities are patents and copyright. Patents are relevant to a great range of space activities, from inventions on board space stations to novel satellite technologies. Copyright is applicable to remote sensing data and information or, in the European context, to databases that contain space-generated data. IPRs evolved as a domestic or national form of protecting intellectual or intangible assets, and territoriality is one of the main characteristics of this legal regime. A diverse and complex set of national regimes, policies, principles and approaches gave rise to a number of international treaties that formulated the agreed approach to the international ramifications of IPR issues. These treaties essentially establish certain levels of mutual recognition and acceptance of national protection in the countries that accede to them, harmonize and unify national provisions as far as feasible, and develop, where appropriate or necessary, new IPR tools to address new developments, activities and relationships. With the development of space activities, IPR regimes of patent and copyright protection became relevant for the actors involved, and some of their rules were specifically adapted to accommodate interests of stakeholders in space activities, as for example with regard to the inventions made aboard the International Space Station. Chapter 18 outlines the main international regimes regarding copyright and patent protection and analyses their impact on major sectors of space activities. It also references some national norms to provide the analysis with a better context, since the enforcement of IPR up to now has often remained a domestic matter and the importance of national IPR protection regimes cannot be discarded. Intellectual property (IP) has become ever more important in the information age of the societal development in various countries, and its protection often becomes a cornerstone in engagement and progress in various activities. This is true for many types of space activities that are at the edge of the technological development and produce results that require granting and enforcement of IP rights (IPR). There is, however, one major challenge to effective application of IP protection to the results of space activities, and this analysis focuses precisely on this interesting issue. IP protection, in particular the procedures for granting and enforcing it, is per se territorially limited: it encompasses territory of single states, sometimes of groups of states, and existing international IP law instrumentsrecognize IPR legitimately existing in one jurisdiction in countries that are party to the same relevant treaties. In a nutshell, an owner of IPR over eligible subject-matter in one jurisdiction may only protect it in other jurisdictions if the latter recognize them by virtue of the so-called national treatment provisions embodied in relevant international law instruments, or if the owner decides to register his IPR in those jurisdictions where the protection and its enforcement may be sought.