Intellectual Property in the
“Internet of Things”
The Internet of things (“IoT”) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as “connected devices” and “smart devices”), buildings, and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data. In 2013 the Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things (IoT-GSI) defined the IoT as “the infrastructure of the information society.”
The IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit in addition to reduced human intervention.
“Things,” in the IoT sense, can refer to a wide variety of devices such as heart monitoring implants, biochip transponders on farm animals, electric clams in coastal waters, automobiles with built-in sensors, DNA analysis devices for environmental/food/pathogen monitoring or field operation devices that assist firefighters in search and rescue operations. Legal scholars suggest to look at “Things” as an “inextricable mixture of hardware, software, data and service”. These devices collect useful data with the help of various existing technologies and then autonomously flow the data between other devices.
Current market examples include home automation (also known as smart home devices) such as the control and automation of lighting, heating (like smart thermostat), ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and appliances such as washer/dryers, robotic vacuums, air purifiers, ovens or refrigerators/freezers that use Wi-Fi for remote monitoring.
The role of IoT has been crucial in our everyday life both at the workplace and outside of it. Over the next few years, IoT will become the major growth driver for the innovations across sectors and deliver numerous benefits to corporates and consumers. The global IoT market is projected to reach at USD 1.7 trillion by 2020 from USD 655.8 billion in 2014. IoT has enormous opportunities for businesses and solve complex business problems in the competitive marketplace.
Though IoT market is at a nascent stage, majority of the large corporates and startups have started embracing and are competing against each other. IoT presents a tremendous potential for inventors, policy makers, thus giving them the opportunity to make changes in the patent system. Just as a side note, we would like to thank snshelper.com for these comments and helping us to come up with this information. Additionally, IoT provides further insights into their facilities, which can be used to manage complex customer needs.
The following YouTube.com video from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers does an excellent job in describing some of the issues and opportunities relating to intellectual property in The Internet of Things:
The true value of IoT lies in the data, which will drive the need for powerful computers and analytics to crunch the data from the devices. What is exciting is that these new technologies have moved from theory to practice. Whether it’s IoT sensors collecting weather data from around the world, or a new multi-player VR game, or an AI system used to track and predict consumer behaviors – these apps are becoming part of our lives. With technology trends like IoT, AI, virtual reality, big data, BYOD, among a variety of other trends taking off, we’re going to see a different set of data center requirements emerge.
The following list provides links to recently issued IoT patents issued by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office:
- 9,538,311—Auto-provisioning for internet-of-things devices
- 9,532,220—Apparatus and method for authentication in wireless communication system
- 9,513,637—Internet of things intelligent gas meter and control system
- 9,497,572—Internet of things platforms, apparatuses, and methods
- 9,485,231—Securing internet of things communications across multiple vendors
- 9,479,485—Network security method and network security servo system
- 9,473,504—Role based access control for connected consumer devices
- 9,461,976—Goal-driven provisioning in IoT systems
- 9,460,228—Generating and delivering a wrap package of cards including custom content and/or services in response to a triggered event
- 9,456,302—Geospatial asset tracking systems, methods and apparatus for acquiring, manipulating and presenting telematic metadata
- 9,444,515—Short-range zigbee compatible receiver with near-threshold digital baseband
- 9,439,143—Method and device for power saving mode control in mobile communication system
- 9,439,049—System and method for message service gateway
- 9,438,440—Proximity detection of internet of things (IoT) devices using sound chirps
- 9,420,227—Speech recognition and summarization
- 9,420,044—Leveraging system signaling service advertisements for application-layer discovery and connection management in an internet of things (IoT) environment
- 9,413,827—Context aware actions among heterogeneous internet of things (IOT) devices
Numerous trademarks relating to IoT products and services have been registered, the pace of these filings is quickening.You can search for these and other trademarks by clicking this link for the USPTO TESS webpage. Here are some examples of recent filings, and their respective application serial numbers:
- 87217912—“Social Media Data & Analytics, Marketing Content & Website Www Customer Experience Ecommerce & mCommerce Innovation Capabilities Organizational DNA Cyber Risk & Security Technology Cloud Saas Internet Of Things Mobile Customers Markets Products”
- 87214422—“Social Media Data & Analytics Marketing Content & Website Customer Experience Ecommerce & mCommerce Innovation Capabilities Organizational DNA Cyber Risk & Security Technology Cloud Saas Internet Of Things Mobile Customers Markets Products.”
- 87038938–World Internet Of Things Convention
- 86839118 –Ingdan Hatch The Internet Of Things
- 86704635—IoT Village
- 86416531–Internet Of Things Journal
- 85540945–Iotags: Internet Of Things
For more reading on IoT and its ramifications, see the following ar
- Webinar: Internet of Things: Intellectual Property Issues | Events …
www.finnegan.com/events/eventdetail.aspx?event=78503c48-0ad4-475d-b85d…
- Intellectual Property Issues and Internet of Things (IOT) | Effectual …
www.effectualservices.com/intellectual-property-issues-and-internet-of-things/
- The Internet of Things (IoT) and Implications on Intellectual Property
www.ipcg.com › Resources › ipCG Blog
- Internet of Things: Patent Landscape Analysis – WIPO
www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/programs/patent_landscapes/…/internet_of_things.pdf
- The Intellectual Property of the Internet of Things (IoT)
https://www.lesusacanada.org/resource/collection/B2D9101A…/ip-of-the-iot.pdf
- Key IP and Data Privacy Issues in the Internet of Things Chris …
apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/committees/CL455000pub/newsletter/201601/fa_5.pdf
- Patent issues and the Internet of Things – Taylor Wessing
https://united-kingdom.taylorwessing.com/download/article_patent_iot.html