The rapidly growing but loosely regulated nonfungible token (NFT) industry already touches many areas of human endeavor “from academia to entertainment to medicine, art, and beyond,” wrote recently two United States senators in a letter to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. Copyright Office. The legislators were requesting a study to explain how this emerging technology fits into the world of intellectual property (IP) rights, including copyrights, trademarks and patents.
It is an area that some say is marked by ambiguity and inconsistent application of the law, and sometimes indifference from the courts. “Many feel it is time for Congress to step in and provide the predictability needed for innovation to flourish,” Michael Young, partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, told Cointelegraph.