Intellectual Property In The Digital Domain: New Technological Challenges With Specific Reference To Blockchains
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 23, 2025
- 2 min read
Adv. Nandakishor S., National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
ABSTRACT
This project investigates the impact of blockchain technology on intellectual property law in a digital environment, with particular emphasis on India and the TRIPS agreement. The study identifies the conflict that current IP laws are made for centralized, territorially-based systems, whereas blockchains function through decentralized and borderless networks. The paper considers the implications of copyright, trademark, and patent law arising from the nature of the blockchain in terms of its features like immutability, decentralization, timestamping, and smart contracts. It further ascertains if blockchain ledgers can be considered as author identification, ownership, priority, and licensing under Indian provisions such as the Copyright Act, 1957, the Patents Act, 1970, the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The research also looks at the permission of such proof under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and points out the contradictions of data protection standards as per the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Worldwide judicial responses to blockchain-based IP disputes and trends in the global market are identified through a comparative study of the European Union, the United States, and China developments.
The investigation argues that although India's IP system complies with the TRIPS agreement, it does not provide for the explicit recognition of blockchain-based records and transactions, thus resulting in legal uncertainty concerning enforcement, jurisdiction, and privacy issues. The project ends with the suggestion that blockchain be considered as an additional governance instrument rather than a substitution of statutory IP frameworks and recommends that legislative changes, institutional pilot projects, and international cooperation be utilized to achieve technology-neutral, secure, and TRIPS-compliant integration of blockchain in India's IP system.
