Date: 4 November 2021
After a successful conclusion of an ESA-funded project exploring the legal and technical frameworks that underpin the cloud computing environment, we have secured a 6-month extension to elaborate upon current strategies and best practices with regards to exploitation and commercialisation of intellectual property within the Earth Observation (EO) sector. Intellectual property represents an important financial and legal asset for companies, including start-ups. It is often estimated that intellectual property counts for more than 80% of company’s value. The space industry, which is justifiably one of the fastest growing global industries at the moment, with cutting-edge research in space science and technology, is a perfect example of this trend.
Moderated by Dr Michaela MacDonald (CCLS, EECS), the workshop provides industry players with the opportunity to understand the value of the business and how it is aligned with the overall IP and business strategy, which is crucial for commercial exploitation and future growth. In the second half, we will explore how to compensate for some adverse aspects of intellectual property protection and enforcement by relying on contracts and technological solutions, such as data provenance. The workshop aims to further harness the collaboration across legal, EO, blockchain and cloud computing communities, users, and contributors.
Craig Jacobs (ARGANS), Prof Noam Shemtov (CCLS)
John Hull (CCLS, Solicitor of the Supreme Court, England)
Most EO data is free to users. Some is proprietary. But the data, whatever its source, has no value in itself. It must be converted into a form protectable by intellectual property which can then be licensed or sold to users. This session examines the various ways in which raw EO data can be acquired, processed, and converted to a commercially realisable form. It will provide industry players and other potential users of EO data with an opportunity to learn more about intellectual property, the different forms it can take and crucially, how it can be used as the basis for a commercial version of EO data which can be made available to third parties in a variety of ways. Discussion Session 2: Protecting EO-derived products and services through technical evidence and contracts Prof Chris Reed (CCLS) Intellectual property was designed for creative works like books, music, and movies. It struggles to protect data products and services – it’s just a bad fit for them. Furthermore, enforcing intellectual property rights is slow and expensive. Products and services based on EO data need protection, which is less complex, easier to generate, tailored to those products and services and simpler to enforce. This session will explore how far technical evidence about data provenance can be combined with contracts to achieve such protection.