Senators Dive into the World of NFTs,Asking U.S. Patent and Copyright Offices to Consider Questions Regarding Related Intellectual Property Rights

摘要

Senators Thorn Tillis ("R-NC") and Patrick Leahy ("D-VT") have sent a letter to the directors of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and U.S. Copyright Office, requesting that the agencies jointly undertake a study of intellectual property ("IP") rights considerations with respect to non-fungible tokens ("NFT or NFTs"). NFTs are digital objects - each NFT has a unique digital footprint that is unchangeable -recorded and stored on a blockchain. NFTs represent ownership of unique items. NFT ownership and assignment are also recorded on a blockchain, allowing for secure, transparent recordkeeping, and the blockchain ensures only one NFT can be created for each item. (This is different than, e.g., streaming music files or digital photographs, which may be copied, pasted and broadly distributed.)