City Research Online

Abstract

The objects of digital trade are often subject to intellectual property ( IP) protection. The exclusionary nature of IP rights which is deemed to incentivise and reward the creation of new goods, however, is a mechanism developed in the a pre-digital era and can therefore not be seamlessly transposed to digital goods and services. This chapter outlines the Janus-headed nature of IP rights for digital trade, as, on the one hand enabling it while also having the ability to hamper it. It first looks at the interfaces of IP with digitization and trade in order to set the scene and then outlines its effects on digital trade and how regulators have sought to address the issues. The chapter also looks at some current issues of the interface of digital trade and IP, such as digital exhaustion, intermediary liability and the impact of new technologies, e.g. Blockchain technology and NFTs as well as 3D printing.

Publication Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is a draft chapter. The final version is available in Research Handbook on Digital Trade edited by David Collins and Michael Geist, published in 2023, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800884953. The material cannot be used for any other purpose without further permission of the publisher, and is for private use only.
Publisher Keywords:	intellectual property, digital trade, digitization, Internet, E-commerce
Departments:	The City Law School The City Law School > Academic Programmes
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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