This book evaluates issues and challenges emerging from the interaction between intellectual property (IP) and new technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), big data, social media, internet of things (IoT), metaverse, blockchain, video gaming, and voice cloning.

New technologies have not only shaken the current IP system but show the limits of a framework which was designed more than three centuries ago. As technological innovations have rendered some established IP rules and principles difficult to apply, new approaches are required to adequately respond to ensuing challenges. This volume uses existing case studies and prevailing court decisions to underline the dynamic of the current system. It proposes adjustments to accommodate new technologies within the current IP structure. The book reflects on the challenges created by new technologies and explores alternative ways to respond to these issues.

This book will assist IP experts, academics, professionals, and policy makers in their undertakings to understand various issues generated by new technologies. It will also be of interest to researchers in the field of IP law and the law of emerging technologies.

Tshimanga Kongolo (TK) holds a PhD in intellectual property law. TK has worked for 23 years at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Academy. Prior to joining WIPO in 2001, TK taught IP at Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. He was invited as a Research Fellow to the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich, Germany in 2000 for seven months (while being professor at Osaka University). His key areas of expertise involve international IP law, branding and innovation, traditional knowledge, IP and public health, the African IP system, developing world IP laws and policies, and IP and emerging technologies. TK has widely published books and articles covering these areas (see Google Scholar and Westlaw).