Digitisation is changing every business sector, and particularly within the oil and gas industry. Challenges including a rising global population, limited resources and climate change, are pushing the energy industry into transformative change.
At the heart of each company’s success in meeting the demands of the energy industry is innovation. Research & development are reaching new heights and refocusing attention on IP (intellectual property) rights and ownership.
Protecting digital IP
Companies in the oil and gas sector must protect their existing IP portfolio and adapt their strategies to deal with digital IP. It’s important for businesses to fully understand what they already own, what they may co-own and how to retain ownership of new tech.
Digital technology is now ubiquitous, and as such businesses must protect software and computer code. Navigating these issues are forcing companies to work out ways to patent inventions that have been developed by computers.
These digital patents now represent a fundamental part of every valuable IP portfolio, whether the tech covers management systems, data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain or communication systems.
Patent filings increase
Within the oil and gas sector, increasingly complex regulations surrounding patents and IP hasn’t slowed filings down. The European Patent Office (EPO) recently released a report showing patent application filings in the ‘Electrical machinery, apparatus and energy’ category increased from 10,002, to 10,402 between 2016 and 2017.
There has also been an increase in traditional patent filings, as companies react the need to generate a new energy infrastructure. Climate change, energy prices, global economic instability and political problems are informing the need for the energy sector to innovate rapidly.
The energy industry has always been at the cutting edge of innovation and technology, and this will continue as they work to meet the challenges of an increasingly crowded world. And at the heart of all innovation lies IP protection.
About Dawn Ellmore Employment
Dawn Ellmore Employment was incorporated in 1995 and is a market leader in intellectual property and legal recruitment.