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"NFT" et copyright.

  

Introduction.

Les jetons dits "non fongibles" ou "NFT" sont des instruments électroniques de la blockchain qui sont devenus le sujet culturel et juridique brûlant de la fin des années 2020 et du début des années 2021, et qui devraient le rester longtemps en raison d'une foule de considérations techniques, juridiques et financières. Compris comme l'un des générateurs d'informations techniques numériques d'une certaine dénomination, les "NFT" sont essentiellement des certificats numériques ou des "sceaux" d'identification numérique qui prouvent la propriété d'un actif artistique électronique spécifique, représenté sous forme de fichier électronique NFT et vérifiable (en termes d'authenticité et de valeur), et échangé par son introduction dans un logiciel blockchain. La numérisation d'objets matériels et immatériels protégés par le droit d'auteur sous la forme d'œuvres numériques NFT a ouvert de nouveaux défis au concept standard de licence de droit d'auteur en ligne connu jusqu'alors dans la doctrine et la pratique juridiques. Cette présentation a pour but d'ouvrir la porte à ce sujet et de le présenter comme l'une des questions technologiques, culturelles et juridiques urgentes du XXIe siècle auxquelles la propriété intellectuelle en tant que branche du droit est confrontée.

1. Que sont les NFT en tant qu'objet de droit?

J'aimerais commencer cette présentation en mettant l'accent sur le fait que le créateur réel d'un NFT devient le propriétaire de ce fichier électronique original et donc de l'ensemble des options relatives à sa licence en tant qu'objet de droit. La plupart des fichiers NFT, qui contiennent des informations spécifiques, dans la plupart des cas des images ou de la musique, fonctionnent au niveau technologique par le biais de la plateforme blockchain open source décentralisée Ethereum, qui prend en charge ce qu'on appelle les "contrats intelligents" comme fonctionnalité. Ce qui est intéressant dans ces contrats, c'est que chaque déclaration de volonté échangée entre les parties est reflétée dans le code logiciel de bas niveau de la blockchain comme une action juridique. La fonctionnalité décrite des "contrats intelligents" conduit à une transparence totale des relations juridiques entre les parties, puisque chaque offre, son acceptation ou son refus de participer à une transaction peuvent être tracés par la forme, le destinataire et le contenu dans la "chaîne" du logiciel lui-même.

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Regulation of token sales internationally. ICO business models and tokens.

 

Legal framework in the USA. "I believe that every ICO that I encounter will provide certainty," the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began his presentation to the US Senate Banking Oversight Committee in February 2018 with these words. In doing so, he confirmed the great fears of many blockchain startups - that their ICOs, based on the public offering of online bonds called "tokens" (the latter legislated as securities in the United States), are subject to cumbersome registration requirements.

These fears have led numerous emerging companies in the IT industry to launch their ICOs exclusively outside of the United States, ignoring the advantages of attracting U.S.-based investors in the belief that they can thus avoid certain sluggish government regulations.

This "strategy" is based on two misconceptions about the laws governing securities trading around the world. First, it is impossible to conduct a token sale in the US without going through the particularly expensive administrative procedure of registering the ICO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accompanied by the preparation of a project description. Second, the legal framework and procedures for securities regulation in the United States is uniquely burdensome.

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How to create and promote an ICO? ICO attorney in Bulgaria.

This outline points out the main points that should be strictly followed when marketing a new, start-up company in the field of blockchain technology and token public offering(ICO). My many years of experience as a legal consultant in the blockchain industry have led me to the below commented main conclusions for proper structuring of ICO projects. Consider every detail carefully, consult every stage, select a top team of professionals for the technical, financial, legal and marketing parts to successfully go through these particularly important steps of properly forming and promoting your ICO:

 

1.Formulate your product.

A huge problem with the ICO industry today is that most projects don't actually build a real business strategy based on blockchain technology. In my practice, I've come across many marketing gimmicks, landing pages, speculative "sales funnels", and so-called "UI/UX" mockups with no backend technology built in. You can get away with launching an MVP or beta version of a blockchain project and then doing the token sale, but I think it's reasonable to say that most startups will need to raise equity investment to launch their blockchain business. It takes funding to make money and your ICO is no exception. You need a product and your product needs to use your token as a financial instrument. Blockchain technology has the potential to change the world, but it requires serious professionals building real technology.

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Artificial intelligence patents. Law practice. 

 

The topic of artificial intelligence is still not present in Bulgarian law as something normative and practical, which is on the legislative agenda in the 21st century, not only for technological and legal reasons, which undoubtedly determines the future of the innovative sector and through it the public, business and personal life of every modern person. The latest research on the subject in many of the world's advanced technology countries has shown that it is not far off the time when besides the afternoon chess game with some electronic device, artificial intelligence will be issued with instant visas, will be approved faster and secure (personal data - finger, face recognition) bank credits, national and cross-border (eg European) elections will be held and health services will be provided. Other studies have shown that artificial intelligence will replace many professions - lawyers, notaries, bailiffs, judges, revolutionize medical precision and monitoring, robotize our industry, services and lifestyle, thus putting new intellectual, philosophical and psychological challenges to everyday life and perhaps to the relationships between us - human beings. Realizing the inevitability of all this, many companies operating in different spheres of social and business life began to develop dynamic and focused inventions based entirely on artificial intelligence. Taking this into account, I want to pay close attention to this statement of these patents, driven by my belief that today's inventions in the area of ​​Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the basis of our more interesting tomorrow.

1.Historical development. Artificial Intelligence (AI) appeared in the 1950s, with the first mention of the term coming from a summer 1956 research project of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA. A year earlier, in 1955, John McCarthy, a young assistant professor of mathematics at Dartmouth College, decided to organize a group for exploring and developing digital thinking machines. McCarthy selects the name "Artificial Intelligence" as a "new field" of scientific search. It presumes mostly neutral neutrality in order to avoid focusing on the narrow theory of automation and cybernetics, as already known achievements of analog technology. In early 1955, Mr. McCarthy turned to Robert Morrison, director of biological and medical research at the Rockefeller Foundation, to request funding for the Dartmouth summer seminar for about 10 mathematicians. On 2 September 1955, the project was officially presented to the board members under the notion of "artificial intellect".

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 Blockchain software patents. Blockchain attorney in Bulgaria.

 

Introduction. The liberalisation of the banking sector to crypto currencies and, above all, the blockchain technology behind them, shows that the financial market slowly breaks the shell of misunderstanding into the new online legal mechanisms that lead to software verifying each link in a legal deal. In my opinion, the crypto currencies themselves (as a speculative tool) in the near future are doomed to a total collapse of a single dollar denomination for a specific crypto (for example, "bitcoin"), but blockchain technology as an innovative business model and legal tool for doing business online, will soon develop technologically and enter various spheres of public life - finance, law, health, education, creative industries, public sector. A proof of this statement is that at present, perhaps the largest bank in the world - the US Bank of America - has a total of 50 patents in the field of blockchain technology serving the banking and financial sector. Оn the second position by applications for this kind of patents in US it is the giant in the computer industry IBM, which logically declare interest in this industry, as it has been for years the main hardware supplier (of various types of computer equipment) for thousands of banks around the world. 

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Financial Instruments concerning cryptocurrencies. Blockchain attorney. 

 

 

Cryptocurrencies are legally digital financial assets designed to work as a means of exchange by using the cryptographic method of securing transactions in order to control the creation of additional currency units. In this context, cryptocurrencies can be classified as a subset of digital currencies and / or as subspecies of alternative currencies, in particular virtual ones. In the present, the cryptocurrencies also serve to buy the so-called "tokens", which I think can be qualified as a type of electronic bonds serving to raise capital through the so-called "ICO" concept (Initial coin offering) is a type of electronic crediting of startup companies from third parties. This feature has turned cryptocurrencies into a particularly dynamic financial instrument, which are different from the different banking and stock exchange analogues, leads to incredible flexibility and speed in financial operations. The present statement aims to give a greater focus on all the mentioned processes - their positive, speculative nature, but also their role as an ever-increasing real financial instrument that literally blows the financial sector and places many legal issues. 

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Trademark opposition. Trademark attorney in Bulgaria and EUIPO.

 

1.Opposition procedure in Bulgaria. With one of the last amendments of the Trade Mark and Geographical Indications Law (the Bulgarian abbreviation of this act is ZMGO and comes from “Закон за марките и географските означения”) of 26.02.2010 - SG, no. 19 of 2010 26.02.2010, the National Assembly of Republic of Bulgaria adopted an interesting and practically new change in the procedure of registration of trademarks, by introducing the so-called opposition procedure.

Under the new system of trademark registration, the examination of registration applications will be done on an absolute basis only on absolute grounds.

If the application submitted meets the requirements of Article 11 of the ZMGO, it will be published in the Official Bulletin of the Patent Office. The new relative grounds for refusal of registration presented in Article 12 of the ZMGO refer to the fact that when an opposition is filed, the trade mark will not be registered if: it is identical to an earlier trade mark and its goods or services are identical to the ones of the earlier mark; because of its identity or similarity to an earlier trade mark and the identity or similarity of the goods or services of the two marks, there is a likelihood of confusion by the consumers, including the possibility of connection with the earlier mark.

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Copyright protection on Internet sites. Copyright attorney in Bulgaria.

 

A hot topic which concerns a lot of online businesses is copying (retrieving or stealing) website content - its texts, graphics, designs, photos and commercial concepts. The trend on a global and national level indicates that within a few years, any good, including author's works - books, musical works, architectural projects, computer programs, etc. will be offered predominantly online. This fact calls for increased attention paid to the adequate copyright protection of the content of the Internet sites as well as to the formulation of the clearer general terms and conditions for their use in order to avoid unscrupulous practices carried out by third parties.

This statement will address the main guidelines that should be marked as a means of protection and prevention against the illegal "copying or theft" that is done with respect to the content or functionality of the Internet sites.

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Three-dimensional trademark or industrial design?

 

The theory and practice of patent law overlap with the view that the doctrinal and factual three-dimensional mark and design actually achieve the same legal result - the defense of the image of an object. However, the differences in the legal effects of the registration of the two objects of intellectual property are significant and should be explored in depth, with the idea to properly structure a strategic decision, on the most adequate means of defense for dealing with in a particular case. From this point of view, I find this topic particularly interesting because it is the basis for solving legal issues of a theoretical and practical nature that concern the correct registration of a product's vision, depending on several important criteria: 

- how much it has been used and has become commercially recognizable prior to the date of its filing as an industrial property;

 - how many images should the protection cover;

 - target time as the speed of the registration;

 - what is the duration of registration required by the applicant; 

- should the pre-selected remedy be in line with any possible future legal disputes that would have been sorted out when there is an improperly chosen intellectual property subject to the application or registration.

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"Internet Intellectual Property Law" in Bulgaria? Internet law. Internet attorney in Bulgaria.

 

In the 21st century, literally every social, business, political, and cultural aspect of life is mediated by online space. This means that behind every everyday activity stands an online platform - a website, a blog, an Internet mobile application, and so on. The Bulgarian social reality shows that offenses / crimes aimed at copying, using, reproducing, distributing, hacking, breaking the integrity and functioning of online works are a practice that is completely neglected, legally unsettled, and therefore devoid of any clearly structured legislative sanction, therefore prevention. It is correct to note that there are some legal norms in the Bulgarian legislation which concern the commented subject, but they are in different material laws and provide for separate abstract hypotheses that do not communicate with each other and thus remain some "mutilated" legal constructions without real practical significance.

All of this naturally leads to the total unproductiveness and almost zero efficiency in the work of specialized prevention bodies in the face of, for example, in the computer crime sector of so called “GDBOP”, due in particular to the lack of an adequate legal framework from a substantive point of view and respectively the lack of powers from a procedural point of view. This article aims to precisely identify these problems and to define what has been achieved so far internationally to justify the real need for such a legislative initiative in Bulgaria, which is justified not only in the present but also especially in the future, given the obvious all-round digitization of public life. Here I would like to point out the fact that the legal focus on online space and its problems has been placed in Western Europe and the US in the mid-1990s, i.e. the Bulgarian legislation is late for nearly 20 years to place emphasis on lawmaking in this sphere. I would like to mention that when in 2009 at a intellectual property conference, I started to speak on the subject of this article, I was greeted with silence and misunderstanding by a strictly professional audience that made me feel like a "stranger in my own." Unfortunately, there is no feedback between the online industry and lawyers, intellectual property specialists, which leads to a lack of communication and an option for a meeting of opinions, concepts and views to identify the specific problems to be solved. That is why, up to this day, I continue to insist that an "Intellectual Property Law on the Internet" must exist in the Bulgarian legislation, taking into account the balanced interests of users and rights holders, and in this context, the different options to the positive legal behavior of the different legal entities and a corresponding sanction in respect of offenses and crimes directed against copyright works and various technical and software platforms, object of intellectual property based on the Internet.