IP IN SPACE
the fields of space tourism and civilian transport on suborbital reusable launch vehicles, space station re-supply missions and near-earth asteroid mining. Governments have woken up to the potential for private sector growth in the supply of space-related products and services.
Even as public spending is being cut in line with austerity measures, the UK government is keen to support the growth of its high-tech space industry. Tis is clearly illustrated by the £60 million grant awarded to
Reaction Engines Ltd, formally
announced by Minister for Universities and Science David Willets at the UK Space Conference in Glasgow in July. Tis is the company set up by UK scientist Alan Bond to develop synergetic air-breathing rocket engines (SABRE technology) with the goal of dramatically reducing the fuel cost involved in accessing space.
Much more private capital will have to be raised in order for Reaction Engines to test and manufacture a marketable product. However, if successful, the applications for reusable spaceplanes employing SABRE technology are wide-ranging. Te launcher market is estimated to be worth £14 billion over the next 30 years. Te creation and exploitation of IP rights is an integral part of generating a return on
the substantial level of private investment entailed in these and similar commercial space projects.
Te problem is that IP rights may have to be sought in an indeterminate number of jurisdictions in order to confer meaningful protection over a space invention. Consider, for example, any patentable inventions which may be the fruits of research and development into SABRE technology. Its potential advantages over conventional jet engines could encourage others to copy or emulate its inventive elements rather than seek a licence from Reaction Engines. If a product or process, alleged to constitute infringement of a SABRE technology patent, is located or takes place in or on a space object in outer space then it is the object’s state of registry which has quasi-jurisdiction. Te domestic law of the state of registry, including its IP law, applies in relation to the space object. If patent rights are not held in that particular state then there can be no recourse in relation to infringing activities carried out in or on the registered space object.
Comprehensive coverage
It is hard, if not impossible, for inventors accurately to predict which states may become ‘states of registry’ for space objects. Te Registration Convention attempts to define the limits of the
latter term by tying it to the notion of a ‘launching state’. However, this does little to simplify the task for the would-be patentee seeking comprehensive IP coverage for outer space.
It is not merely a case of adding up all the states within whose territory there are currently launch facilities and filing a patent application in each of them. Te term ‘launching state’ is given a very broad definition in the UN treaties on outer space to include a state whose governmental or non- governmental entities launch or procure the launch
As a female firm, Ofo Ventura, celebrates its 10th year in the IP world.
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www.ofoventura.com.tr 32 World Intellectual Property Review September/October 2013
www.worldipreview.com
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