The paper presents an attempt to conceptualize the state of intellectual property (IP) in science in the context of digital transformation mediated by distributed ledger technologies, and blockchain. The focus is on NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), CC0 NFTs (Creative Common Zero Non-Fungible Tokens) as NFTs released into the public domain under a CC0 license, and IP-NFTs, or Intellectual Property Non-Fungible Tokens — unique digital assets that use blockchain technology to represent ownership of a piece of IP such as research and other creative works as well as to raise funds.

In this paper, we list the main issues in the IP field in science and academia and provide an overview of opportunities of DLT and blockchain for improving it. We sketch an IP x NFTs ecosystem landscape, listing state-of-the-art initiatives and projects, and discuss the main challenges of CC0- and IP-NFTs.

Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. The term often refers to the creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Intellectual property plays an important role in fostering innovation, creativity, and economic growth by providing legal protections for the creators and innovators who bring new ideas to market.

However, the intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is “indivisible”, since an unlimited number of people can “consume” an intellectual good without its being depleted.

Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation: landowners can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, but producers of information or literature can usually do little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price.

Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent the goods’ wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property law.

Intellectual property types

Intellectual property is protected by various legal frameworks such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Patents are legal protections granted to inventors of new and useful products or processes. Patents give inventors exclusive rights to manufacture and sell their inventions for a certain period of time. In exchange for this exclusive right, inventors must publicly disclose their inventions, which helps to stimulate innovation by allowing others to learn from and build upon existing inventions.

Copyrights are legal protections granted to creators of original literary, artistic, musical, and other creative works. Copyrights give creators the exclusive right to use and distribute their works for a certain period of time. In exchange for this exclusive right, creators must make their works available for public consumption, which helps to promote artistic and cultural production.

Trademarks are legal protections granted to individuals or companies for the use of logos, names, or other identifying symbols used in commerce. Trademarks help to prevent confusion and misrepresentation in the marketplace by allowing consumers to easily identify and differentiate between different products and services.

Trade secrets refer to confidential business information, such as formulas, processes, or customer lists, that provide a competitive advantage to the company that owns them. Trade secrets are protected through confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and other legal means.

Part I. The state of IP in science: An overview and challenges

Intellectual property in science is a complex and evolving area of law and policy that involves balancing the interests of inventors and creators with the broader public interest in promoting scientific progress and innovation.

Today, the state of intellectual property in science is shaped by a complex set of legal, ethical, and policy considerations, and there is ongoing debate and discussion around how best to balance the interests of inventors and creators with the broader public interest in promoting scientific progress and innovation.

Key trends

Intellectual property is a critical component of scientific research and innovation, as it helps to protect and incentivize investment in new technologies and ideas. Several key trends have emerged in recent years that are shaping the way intellectual property is being used in science.

Firstly, there is a growing emphasis on collaborative research and open innovation. This trend is driven by the recognition that collaboration can lead to faster and more effective innovation. As a result, there is an increasing use of open innovation models, such as open-source software and open-access publishing, which allow for the free sharing of ideas and data.

Secondly, there is a trend towards greater protection of intellectual property rights in emerging markets. This trend is driven by the growing importance of emerging markets as centers of scientific research and innovation. As a result, there is a greater focus on protecting IP rights in these markets through the development of stronger IP laws and regulations.

Thirdly, there is a trend toward greater use of IP licensing and collaboration agreements. This trend is driven by the recognition that licensing and collaboration can provide an effective means of monetizing intellectual property assets while also providing access to new technologies and expertise.

Lastly, there is a trend toward greater use of alternative IP models, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to manage and monetize intellectual property assets. This trend is driven by the growing interest in blockchain technology, which can provide a secure and transparent means of managing and trading intellectual property assets.

In conclusion, the key trends of intellectual property in science include a growing emphasis on collaborative research and open innovation, greater protection of IP rights in emerging markets, greater use of IP licensing and collaboration agreements, and greater use of alternative IP models.

These trends highlight the evolving nature of intellectual property in science as researchers and innovators seek new ways to protect and monetize their intellectual property assets.

Challenges and risks

IP is critical to scientific research and innovation as it incentivizes investment in new technologies and ideas. However, the use of intellectual property in science also presents significant challenges.

One of the main challenges of intellectual property in science is balancing the interests of patent holders with the public interest. While patents incentivize innovation by granting exclusive rights to inventors, they can also restrict access to new technologies and products, for example, in the healthcare sector, where access to life-saving medicines can be restricted due to high prices.

Secondly, there is the challenge of navigating the complex legal landscape of intellectual property. Intellectual property laws vary widely between countries, which can create uncertainty for creators and owners of intellectual property assets. It is crucial to navigating the legal landscape carefully to ensure that IP rights are appropriately protected.

Thirdly, there is the challenge of managing and monetizing intellectual property assets effectively. Managing intellectual property assets, such as patents and copyrights, can be complex and expensive, particularly for smaller research organizations and startups. Effective management of IP assets requires significant resources, including legal expertise and technology infrastructure.

There is the challenge of determining the appropriate scope of patent protection. In some cases, patents may be overly broad, which can stifle innovation by preventing others from building upon existing technologies. Conversely, patents that are too narrow may not provide sufficient protection for inventors, leading to the possibility of infringement by competitors.

Furthermore, there is the challenge of dealing with patent trolls, who acquire patents with the sole purpose of enforcing them against potential infringers. Patent trolls can be particularly damaging to small and medium-sized enterprises, which may lack the resources to defend themselves against patent infringement claims.

The challenge of protecting intellectual property in the digital age remains. The increasing use of digital technologies, such as cloud computing and social media, has made it easier to share and copy intellectual property assets. This has created new challenges for protecting IP rights, such as the need for more robust digital security measures.

There is a challenge in addressing ethical considerations related to intellectual property. There is an ongoing debate about the ethical implications of patenting life forms and genetic sequences.

There is also a concern that IP rights could be used to restrict access to essential medicines and technologies, particularly in developing countries. Other ethical concerns are associated with the use of intellectual property rights in science, such as questions about who should own and control the results of publicly funded research, and how the benefits of scientific research should be distributed.

On the other hand, there are risks, for instance, the focus on intellectual property rights that can discourage researchers from sharing their work openly, leading to a less collaborative and less efficient scientific community.

Intellectual property rights can create monopolies over certain technologies or scientific knowledge, making it more difficult and expensive for other researchers to work in the same area.

As well as it can result in an inequitable distribution of benefits from scientific research, with a small number of individuals or organizations benefitting greatly while the broader scientific community and society as a whole receive little or no benefit.

To sum up, intellectual property rights in science can pose significant challenges and raise important ethical questions. It is important for researchers, policy-makers, and others to consider these issues carefully and find ways to balance the benefits of intellectual property protection with the need for open and collaborative scientific research.

Part II. Decentralization and blockchain: A new paradigm for science

With the proliferation of innovative distributed ledger technologies, decentralized science, or DeSci, a new movement of scientists and enthusiasts, came into play.

The DeSci movement adherents aim to create an ecosystem where scientists are motivated to conduct and share their research in an open transparent way and receive recognition for their work, making it easy for anyone to access and contribute to research. In other words, legitimize the work of practitioners while serving as a Schelling point for like-minded people, attracting more talent to the space.

Still in its infancy, the DeSci movement comes from the idea that scientific knowledge should be accessible to everyone, disseminating scientific knowledge fairly and equitably. Collaborative research, its peer review and publication process should be transparent and unsophisticated, amplifying the quality of research so that scientists can fully pursue their curiosity and produce knowledge that finds its way into applications that benefit humanity.

Using the Web3 stack, DeSci proposes a more decentralized research and commercialization model, making it more resistant to censorship and influence and control of institutions and publishing houses. It creates an environment where new and unconventional ideas can flourish by decentralizing and diversifying access to funding (from DAOs, quadratic donations to crowdfunding, etc.), research data and methods, scientific tools, and communication channels.

DeSci fuels open science, encourages citizen science and creates incentives for scientists and the public.

Needless to say, blockchain technology has the potential to greatly enhance intellectual property ownership by providing a secure and transparent system for recording and tracking ownership rights, thereby reducing the risk of theft, counterfeiting, and other forms of intellectual property abuse.

Here are the ways in which blockchain can enhance intellectual property ownership:

Immutable record keeping

Blockchain is a decentralized and distributed ledger that records transactions in a secure and immutable manner. This means that once data is recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted. This feature can be used to create an immutable record of intellectual property rights, such as patents and trademarks, and prevent fraudulent claims and disputes.

Transparency and traceability

Blockchain can provide transparency and traceability in the management of intellectual property assets. By recording transactions on the blockchain, IP owners can track the use of their assets and ensure that they are being used in compliance with licensing agreements and other contractual obligations.

Automatization

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts that are programmed on the blockchain. They can be used to automate IP-related processes, such as licensing agreements and royalty payments. Smart contracts can ensure that IP owners receive fair compensation for the use of their intellectual property assets, and reduce the risk of disputes and legal challenges.

Proof of ownership

Being a big problem in science, intellectual property is stuck in universities and notoriously difficult to value. Nevertheless, ownership of digital assets (such as scientific data or research papers) is something that Web3 does exceptionally well. Blockchain can be used to establish proof of ownership for intellectual property assets, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. By recording ownership information on the blockchain, IP owners can provide a secure and transparent means of demonstrating their ownership rights.

Decentralized IP management

Blockchain can enable decentralized IP management, where IP assets are owned and managed by a decentralized network of stakeholders, rather than a centralized authority. This can help to promote greater collaboration and innovation in the management of IP assets. Thus, Web3 creates new models of financing and collaboration. In the DeSci ecosystem, various aspects of science, such as scientific papers peer review, intellectual property, and reputation systems, can be governed by separate decentralized specialized communities. This both reduces the risk of being dominated by a single institution and helps future-oriented science withstand rapidly changing technologies and emerging threats. With DAOs and NFTs, DeSci enables communities to be the new shareholders of scientific knowledge (for example, through IP-NFTs that can be owned by DAOs). Furthermore, the value generated by such assets can be then used to fund the creation of new knowledge, in an attempt to build self-sustaining scientific ecosystems.

Monetization of IP assets

Blockchain can provide new opportunities for monetizing IP assets, such as through the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs can be used to represent unique IP assets, such as digital artwork or music, and can be traded on blockchain-based marketplaces.

Increased trust and credibility

Blockchain technology can increase trust and credibility in the management of IP assets by providing a verifiable and immutable record of ownership and transfer of these assets. This can help to reduce disputes and litigation related to IP ownership and transfer.

Mainly, blockchain technology has the potential to enhance the management and protection of intellectual property by providing a secure, transparent, and efficient means of recording ownership and transfer of IP assets, increasing trust and credibility, protecting against infringement and counterfeiting, enabling monetization of IP assets, and promoting decentralized IP management.

Part III. Intellectual property x NFTs

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are uniquely identifiable and verifiable on a blockchain. NFTs use smart contracts to enforce ownership and transfer rights and are often used to represent digital artwork, collectibles, and other unique digital assets.

From an academic perspective, NFTs are an interesting and complex intersection of blockchain technology, digital ownership, and intellectual property law. NFTs offer a new way for creators to monetize their content, as they allow for ownership and transfer of unique digital assets in a secure and transparent way.

However, the use of NFTs also raises questions about the nature of ownership in the digital age and the role of blockchain technology in protecting intellectual property.

NFTs themselves do not necessarily protect intellectual property, but they can help to establish ownership and provenance of digital assets. By creating an NFT that represents ownership of a specific digital asset, such as a research paper, a piece of music, artwork, or a patent, the creator can establish a record of ownership on the blockchain that is publicly accessible and verifiable.

This record can help to prevent unauthorized copying or distribution of digital assets, as it can be used as evidence of ownership in legal disputes. It can also provide a transparent and secure way to track the ownership and provenance of the asset, which can be useful for creators, investors, and collectors.

NFTs use cases for science

NFTs have a variety of use cases for science. Here are some examples:

Authenticating scientific data

NFTs can be used to authenticate scientific data and ensure its integrity. By creating an NFT for a specific data set, researchers can prove that the data has not been tampered with and is original.

Establishing ownership of intellectual property

NFTs can be used to establish ownership of intellectual property, such as patents or software code. By creating an NFT for a specific piece of intellectual property, the owner can prove ownership and potentially monetize or license the property.

Research funding and crowdfunding

NFTs can be used as a mechanism to fund scientific research. Researchers can create NFTs representing their research projects and offer them for sale to investors. Investors can purchase these NFTs as a way to support scientific research, and in return, they may receive a share of any future profits generated by the research. Moreover, NFTs can be used for crowdfunding scientific research by creating NFTs that represent a stake in a specific research project. Investors can purchase these NFTs, which would give them a financial stake in the project and potentially earn them a share of any future profits.

Managing access to scientific data

NFTs can be used to manage access to scientific data. Researchers can create NFTs representing specific data sets, and then sell or license these NFTs to other researchers or organizations. This approach can help to ensure that data is being used appropriately and fairly, and can provide a mechanism for researchers to receive compensation for their work.

Creating scientific art

NFTs can also be used to represent scientific art, such as images and videos of scientific phenomena. By creating NFTs representing these works of art, scientists can sell or license them to others, providing a new source of revenue and a way to promote their work to a wider audience.

Collecting scientific memorabilia

NFTs can be used to collect and trade scientific memorabilia, such as signed copies of research papers or unique datasets.

NFTs types for science

NFTs can include anything from music and artwork to research and inventions patents and trademarks. In the field of intellectual property in science, here are some examples of how NFTs can be used:

Representations of research papers are an important form of intellectual property in the scientific community. An NFT could be used to represent ownership or rights to a specific research paper, allowing the owner to control the access and distribution of the paper.

Patents are a form of intellectual property that provides the owner with exclusive rights to prevent others from making, using, or selling an invention for a certain period of time. A patent NFT could represent ownership or rights to a specific patent.

Scientific data sets can be valuable intellectual property that can be used to develop new products or technologies. An NFT could represent ownership or rights to a specific data set, allowing the owner to control access and use of the data.

Software code is an important form of intellectual property in the technology industry. An NFT could represent ownership or rights to a specific software code, allowing the owner to control access and distribution of the code.

Scientific images such as microscope images or photographs of scientific experiments can be valuable intellectual property. An NFT could represent ownership or rights to a specific scientific image, allowing the owner to control access and use of the image.

Gels NFTs are science-inspired generative pieces. Their algorithm simulates gel electrophoresis.

The advantages of NFTs for IP

NFTs have emerged as a novel approach to intellectual property management. This innovative method has several advantages over traditional approaches to managing intellectual property.

Firstly, NFTs offer immutable ownership of intellectual property assets. Once an IP asset is minted as an NFT, its ownership is recorded on the blockchain, creating an unalterable and transparent record of ownership. This eliminates the need for intermediaries such as lawyers and registration authorities, reducing the cost and time involved in managing IP assets.

Secondly, NFTs offer improved licensing and royalties management. Due to NFTs, royalties can be automatically distributed to the scientists as an owner of the asset. This removes the need for manual tracking and distribution of royalties, which can be prone to errors and disputes.

Thirdly, NFTs enable fractional ownership and trading of intellectual property assets. NFTs can be divided into smaller parts, which allows for fractional ownership of IP assets. This enables creators and owners to monetize their assets more easily and efficiently by selling partial ownership of the asset to multiple investors.

Fourthly, NFTs provide enhanced authentication and provenance of intellectual property assets. The use of blockchain technology ensures that the authenticity and provenance of IP assets can be easily verified. This provides greater assurance to potential buyers or licensees that the asset is genuine and owned by the seller.

Lastly, NFTs increase liquidity by enabling fractional ownership and trading, making it easier for owners to sell or license their assets. This can create new markets for IP assets that were previously illiquid, which can increase their overall value.

NFTs have several advantages over traditional methods of IP management. These advantages include immutable ownership, improved licensing and royalties management, fractional ownership and trading, enhanced authentication and provenance, and increased liquidity. These advantages demonstrate the potential of NFTs to transform the way intellectual property assets are managed and monetized.

Challenges

While NFTs have the potential to provide a new way for creators and researchers to monetize their scientific and creative work and for investors and institutions to invest in digital assets and fund research, there are still several challenges and issues that need to be addressed.

The main challenges of IP x NFTs include:

Ownership and authenticity verifiers

One of the main benefits of NFTs is that they allow researchers to prove ownership and authenticity of their academic work. However, this can be challenging, as it requires a robust system to verify the original creator of the work and to ensure that the NFT is not a copy or a fake.

Copyright and licensing issues

NFTs can potentially raise complex copyright and licensing issues. For example, if an NFT is created based on a work that is protected by copyright, the creator may need to obtain permission from the copyright holder before creating and selling the NFT.

Enforcement of IP rights

Even with an NFT, enforcing intellectual property rights can be challenging. If someone infringes on the researcher’s intellectual property rights, it can be difficult to identify the infringer and take legal action against them.

Adoption

Crypto and blockchain wide adoption is a matter of time. The use of NFTs in the intellectual property space and science is still a niche phenomenon.

Technical challenges

The creation and management of NFTs require technical knowledge and expertise. This can be a barrier for some creators who are not familiar with blockchain technology and may require the help of a technical specialist to create and manage their NFT.

There are still several issues and challenges of NFTs as a phenomenon that needs to be addressed:

Environmental concerns

The energy consumption required for the mining and processing of cryptocurrency has raised concerns about the environmental impact of NFTs. As more people mint and trade NFTs, the energy consumption required for the underlying blockchain network will continue to grow.

Scalability issues

The current blockchain infrastructure for creating NFTs can be slow and expensive, with high transaction fees and limited scalability. This can make it difficult for small creators and artists to create and sell their own NFTs.

Lack of standardization

There is no standardized system for creating or verifying NFTs, which can lead to confusion and inconsistencies in the market. This lack of standardization can make it difficult for buyers and sellers to establish the value and authenticity of NFTs.

Legal and regulatory issues

The legal and regulatory status of NFTs is still unclear in many jurisdictions. As a result, there may be legal and tax implications for creators and buyers of NFTs that are not fully understood.

Market volatility

The market for NFTs can be highly volatile, with prices fluctuating rapidly and unpredictably. This can make it difficult to determine the value of NFTs.

CC0 (Creative Common Zero) NFTs

CC0 non-fungible tokens are a type of NFTs that are released into the public domain under a CC0 license. CC0 stands for Creative Commons Zero, which means that the token creator has waived all rights to the work and released it into the public domain, allowing anyone to use, modify, or distribute the work for any purpose without restriction.

Unlike other NFTs that are typically sold for high prices and can be subject to copyright claims or other legal issues, CC0 NFTs are freely available for anyone to use and can be a valuable resource for researchers, artists, developers, and other creators. They can be used in a variety of applications aside from science, including gaming, virtual reality, and other digital experiences, and can provide a way for researchers and creators to showcase their work while also contributing to the public domain.

CC0 NFTs provide accessibility since they are free for anyone to use, share, and modify without restriction, which makes them more accessible to a wider audience. The use of a blockchain to store and verify ownership of CC0 NFTs provides transparency and security, ensuring that the asset is authentic and not a forgery.

Also, by releasing NFTs under a CC0 license, researchers can avoid legal issues and potential lawsuits for copyright infringement, as they are allowing others to use and modify their work without permission. Moreover, the use of a CC0 license encourages collaboration and the creation of derivative works, allowing for more innovation and creativity within the NFT and science ecosystems.

However, the use of a CC0 license for NFTs may also come with some financial and creative drawbacks. Thus, by giving away their rights to an NFT, scientists, and creators may miss out on potential financial gains from licensing or selling their work. By releasing their work under a CC0 license, they are relinquishing control over how their work is used and may not agree with how it is used or portrayed by others.

On top of that, the CC0 license offers little to no legal protection for creators in case of infringement or misuse of their work, which could be problematic if their work is used in a negative or harmful way. And last but not least, CC0 NFTs may have less value in the marketplace due to their availability and ease of replication, making it difficult for creators to generate income from their work.

As for the CC0 NFTs benefits, they have the potential to revolutionize the way scientific information is shared and preserved. CC0 NFTs can be used to provide a unique, decentralized, and transparent way to share and attribute scientific data, research papers, and other digital content.

One of the most significant features of CC0 NFTs is their ability to ensure the authenticity and provenance of scientific data. NFTs can serve as digital certificates of authenticity, allowing researchers to verify the original source of a dataset, research paper, or any other scientific content. This can be particularly useful in the case of open-access research, where attribution is critical to ensure the integrity of the research and avoid plagiarism.

Furthermore, CC0 NFTs can be used to create a decentralized and transparent peer review system. Researchers can use NFTs to share their data, research papers, or other content, and other researchers can review the content and provide feedback or suggestions. The transparency provided by NFTs can help to ensure the integrity of the review process and provide a more democratic system of peer review.

In addition, CC0 NFTs can be used to create a more sustainable model for scientific publishing. By using NFTs, researchers can monetize their research without relying on traditional publishing models. This can help to ensure that research is accessible to a wider audience and can potentially reduce the costs associated with traditional publishing models.

Some notable CC0 NFT projects:

Nouns is one of the very first CC0 NFTs. It was launched by a group of well-known NFT collectors and approved for various projects, including a collaboration with Budweiser and the creation of Nouns glasses and a coffee brand.

Goblintown collection’s 10,000 avatar NFTs are CC0, so NFT holders can commercialize them however they want. With several NFT whales endorsing the project, including Steve Aoki, the collection’s floor price sits at about 2 ETH.
Rekt Guy launched in May 2022 as a PFP project created by former Wall Street trader and influential NFT collector Ovie Faruq, aka OSF. The collection is centered around OSF’s own character creation and personifies the feeling of being “rekt” — all too familiar in crypto culture. With big names like Snoop Dogg collecting the NFTs, the Rekt Guy project has become something of a status symbol and a true testament to the power of an influencer in hyping a collection.
Chain Runners NFTs are entirely on-chain, so the art permanently exists on the Ethereum blockchain.
Loot doesn’t look like much — an inventory of clothing, weapons, and equipment that belongs in a video game — but that’s exactly the point. Loot supplies items to other builders to use in their projects. While there have been several copycat projects doing the same thing, Loot was the very first to pioneer such a concept.

CryptoDickButts is another uniquely styled CC0 NFT project with no utilities or roadmaps. The project is simple with just the NFT art released to the public under its CC0 license. That said, there are three CryptoDickButts series.
Tiny Dinos is an omnichain CC0 NFT with no utility or roadmap — just little dinos. However, the project, which consists of 10,000 itsy-bitsy pixelated dinosaurs, does offer a few perks. Since Tiny Dinos is omnichain, the NFTs can be transferred between chains. NFT owners can also alter the backgrounds of the NFTs for added customization.
Blitmap started as pixel art. However, the people behind the project soon expanded their ambitions by creating an NFT-driven storytelling project in which all decisions are made by the community. The Blitnauts collection launched first as heroes of their unique sci-fantasy ecosystem, but a Blitnauts rival drop and more are in the works
Larva Lads is an on-chain CC0 NFT that spun off the wildly popular CryptoPunks collection. The project was minted to sound like the company (Larva Labs), which was behind the CryptoPunks release.

CrypToadz was conceived by the prominent anonymous artist Gremplin, and derived from the iconic CryptoPunks. CrypToadz currently ranks among the top traded NFT collections on OpenSea.

IP-NFTs — a meeting point between intellectual property and non-fungible tokens

IP NFTs, or Intellectual Property Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique digital assets that use blockchain technology to represent ownership of a piece of intellectual property such as research, music, art, or other creative works. NFTs are unique, as each NFT is distinct from all others and cannot be exchanged for an equal value like traditional currency.

In the case of science, developed in 2021 by the Molecule team, the IP-NFTs concept became a meeting point between intellectual property and non-fungible tokens, allowing scientific research to be tokenized. Due to this, a representation of a research project is placed on the blockchain in the form of an NFT.

A legal agreement is automatically made between the investors — collectors of the NFT, and the scientist or institution conducting the research. The owners of the NFT are then entitled to remuneration for licensing the intellectual property resulting from the research or creating a start-up from this IP.

In other words, researchers can present a project and raise funds from investors even before a patent is filed. In exchange, the investors have an IP-NFT that allows them to benefit from a certain percentage of the intellectual property and revenues that will potentially be generated by the innovation.

In December 2022, the Molecule team introduced the next generation of IP-NFTs: the IP-NFT V2, in closed beta. Version 2 builds on the proven components of the IP-NFT and extends it with new features. The IP-NFT V2 is built with modularity in mind to enable users and builders to tailor their own use cases. In addition, it allows developers to extend its functionality by adding to existing modules or creating completely new ones.

IP-NFTs allow natively on-chain entities such as DAOs like VitaDAO to conduct research directly on-chain.

Overall, IP-NFTs have the potential to revolutionize the way in which intellectual property is owned and managed, providing researchers with greater control over their work and new opportunities for monetization.

IP x NFTs initiatives

Intellectual property and non-fungible token projects have become increasingly popular in recent years, as creators and researchers seek to monetize their digital creations and protect their intellectual property rights.

There are just a few examples of the many IP x NFT projects that are emerging in the crypto space. As the technology continues to evolve, it is likely that we will see even more innovative uses of NFTs to represent and protect intellectual property rights in the digital realm.

In science, as we mentioned before, the most notable example is Molecule. It was inspired by the open science movement and open drug development that was happening in certain patient communities. The idea was to utilize blockchain tools to help advance and fund early-stage drug development. To that end, the company has made several savvy decisions that have advanced the DeSci space, including ideating IP-NFTs, NFTs tied to intellectual property and launching the VitaDAO community to fund longevity research. They continue to seed new DAOs and help advance the funding of early-stage drug development.

Other platforms and NFT marketplaces that are exploring the use of NFTs and intellectual property:

OpenSea is a major marketplace for NFTs. It allows creators to mint their own NFTs and sell them on the platform.
Nifty Gateway is a platform for buying, selling, and storing NFTs. It has hosted NFT drops from high-profile artists like Beeple and Grimes.
Rarible is a platform for creating and selling NFTs. It allows creators to sell their own unique digital assets as NFTs.
WISeKey is a cybersecurity company that has developed a platform for certifying and verifying the authenticity of NFTs. The platform uses blockchain technology to provide a secure and transparent way to track ownership and the provenance of NFTs.
IPwe is a platform that uses blockchain technology to create a global marketplace for buying and selling patents. It has developed a system for representing patents as NFTs, which allows for a more efficient and transparent way to trade intellectual property.
RMDS Lab, a data and artificial intelligence (AI) platform creates an NFT marketplace for science and technology intellectual property. RMDS was founded by IBM’s former chief data scientist Alex Liu in 2009 to create a global community of data scientists and researchers and to promote scientific innovation through data and AI.
ScieNFT is an open-access preprint server that makes it simple for scientists to share their work as NFTs that can be bought and sold as digital collectibles.
And more.

Check out more DeSci initiatives here.

IP x NFTs examples

Here are a few examples of IP x NFTs in the crypto & science space:

World Wide Web source code NFT — Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, auctioned off the source code of the first web browser as an NFT. In 2021, the legendary computer scientist partnered with Sotheby’s to auction off an NFT which featured the source code of the original web browser. The NFT, which featured a video of the code being typed out as well as an animated signature from Berners-Lee himself, brought in $5,434,500.

The U.S. Space Force released a series of NFTs to commemorate the launch of a satellite in honor of Neil Armstrong. The set of NFTs included augmented reality depictions of satellites, mission badges, and more.
George Church, a co-founder of Nebula Genomics and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, minted his full genome as an NFT.
The University of California, Berkeley has dipped its toes into the NFT space with a single token inspired by documents from Nobel-prize-winning cancer researcher, James Allison. The NFT, titled “The Fourth Pillar” sold for 22 ETH ( around $55,000).

AtomicHeartNFT is a Web3 collective showcasing images produced using electron microscopy and other advanced microscopy techniques.
DNAverse is an NFT project collection customized with real DNA data. The long-term mission is the geneticizing of avatars in the metaverse and the replication of life in the digital world with a self-sustainable decentralized model.
Frontier DAO is a science investment DAO with an art gallery.
Gels are science-inspired generative pieces. Their algorithm simulates gel electrophoresis. The DNA band patterns in this work derive from combinations of simulated experimental data and real-world data, including DNA sequences that encode several variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and the corresponding mRNA vaccines. The algorithm first generates plausible sample tubes that typically contain one or more DNA fragments. Then, each sample is distributed and ‘run’ on a simulated gel to create the characteristic band patterns that might be observed on real gels.
PLANT GANG is a community building the herbarium of the metaverse, producing scientific 3D model NFT plant specimens, with associated metadata and physical counterparts.
SameYou is an NFT collection to raise money for treatments for brain injury or stroke.
UltraRare is a Web3 collective exploring the intersection of art and science. The team includes scientists, developers, and artists. They care about communicating science through audio and visual means, and produce the UltraRare The Podcast to help onboard people to the Web3 space.
Gene NFT is an experiment at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Its foundational collection is HUMAN — a unique NFT for each protein-encoding human gene. The building blocks of The Human Machine.

Conclusion

The use of NFTs in science can offer significant advantages since they represent a new way for scientists, researchers, and creators to monetize their work and protect their IP. With NFTs, it is possible for researchers to create a unique digital identity for a piece of content or an invention, which can be owned and traded. The technology has the potential to revolutionize the way IP is managed, making it more accessible, secure, and transparent.

The future of decentralized IP, and IP x NFTs collab seems to be promising. Currently, it is a rapidly evolving space that holds great potential for scientists and creators alike. And as blockchain technology and NFTs become more mainstream, we are likely to see an explosion in the number and types of IP x Web3 projects.

Still, despite the benefits of NFTs in science and IP, there are issues and risks that need to be addressed. For example, the possibility of fraud and counterfeiting, and the lack of clear regulatory frameworks and legal precedents can make it difficult to enforce IP rights. Additionally, the technology is still relatively new and untested in the scientific community, so further research and experimentation are necessary to fully realize its potential.

While there are challenges to overcome, the emergence of NFTs is no doubt an exciting phenomenon for the future development of intellectual property management, science, and innovation.

References

Bamakan, Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini, et al. “A decentralized framework for patents and intellectual property as NFTs in blockchain networks.” (2021).
Bamakan, Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini, et al. “Patents and intellectual property assets as non-fungible tokens; key technologies and challenges.” Scientific Reports 12.1 (2022): 1–13.
Çağlayan Aksoy, Pınar, and Zehra Özkan Üner. “NFTs and copyright: challenges and opportunities.” Journal Of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 16.10 (2021): 1115–1126.
Guadamuz, Andres. “The treachery of images: non-fungible tokens and copyright.” Journal Of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 16.12 (2021): 1367–1385.
Hargreaves, Ian. “Digital opportunity: A review of intellectual property and growth.” (2011).
Lee, Edward. “NFTs as Decentralized Intellectual Property.” Available at SSRN (2022).
Menell, Peter S. “Intellectual property: General theories.” Encyclopedia of law and economics 2 (1999): 129–188.
Rai, Arti Kaur. “Regulating scientific research: Intellectual property rights and the norms of science.” Nw. UL Rev. 94 (1999): 77.
Yoder, Madison. “An” OpenSea” of Infringement: The Intellectual Property Implications of NFTs.” The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal 6.2 (2022): 4.

Intellectual property (in science): The potential & advantages of NFTs