Big Data & Intellectual Property: Strategic Alignment for Commercial Success

Abstract

We are currently experiencing a ‘Big Data revolution’. Technology and smart devices are enabling us to create, store, share, and use data in ways previously never imagined. At the same time new tools and methodologies allow sophisticated analysis of the data being collected, to produce socially, economically and commercially beneficial insights. The exponential swell in the amount of data being generated, and the new ways of analysing and using it, has the potential to significantly impact the historical role of intellectual property (‘IP’). Traditional IP protection strategies, such as patents and copyright, tend to focus on exclusive ownership and restricted rights access. In contrast, the value of Big Data typically lies in its shared availability to multiple users and combination across varied sources. Traditional IP protection strategies may therefore not always be well suited to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Big Data. To maximise revenue and competitive advantage, businesses may need to re-assess and re-align their IP strategies to their Big Data strategies, to enable shared access and use, rather than exclusive ownership. In addition, open access approaches, such as open source, open innovation and creative commons, potentially have an increasingly important role to play in a Big Data world.