Insights from the conference focusing on digital intellectual property protection and empowering the development of intelligent manufacturing

12 April 2023


To promote the development of digital intellectual property protection and intelligent manufacturing, the "Intelligent Manufacturing and Digital Intellectual Property Protection Nottink 3DP Authentication Platform Conference" was held at the Sofitel Ningbo Hotel and Fudan University in Shanghai on March 25th and 28th respectively. The conference was jointly organised by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China) and Essex Law School, University of Essex, and was supported by the AHRC Follow-up Funding for Impact and Engagement and the Li Dak Sum Innovation Fellowship. The conference consisted of a China venue and a UK venue, with the China venue consisting of a Ningbo session and a Shanghai session. This conference attracted more than 100 experts and scholars from universities, scientific research institutions, manufacturing enterprises and law firms, both online and offline.

As cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, 5G communication and digital watermarking continue to reinvigorate intelligent manufacturing and intellectual property rights, they are playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. The question of how to protect digital intellectual property rights is becoming a critical issue in intelligent manufacturing.

Ningbo session

Professor Patrick Chau, Vice Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), extended his warm welcome to the guests and audience in attendance, and delivered an opening speech for the event. Professor Chau affirmed the importance of the event and that intellectual property protection is particularly important in the context of technological innovations and industrial changes.

Professor James Griffin from the University of Exeter and Dr Xiaochen Mu from NUBS China explained how traditional legal theoretical research should respond to the challenges brought by emerging technologies in the digital economy from the perspective of comparative law. Dr Griffin demonstrated the application of digital watermarking technology in 3D printing, which can resolve the problem of the attribution of rights in digital models, both from the perspective of the rights holders and platforms. Afterwards, Dr Mu took the standard of originality judgment in the age of artificial intelligence as the starting point, and introduced relevant theories from various countries, predicting a perfect balance between the application of laws and progress of technology in the future.

Dr Lei Hao, Teaching Fellow in Digital Media, Communications and Culture at UNNC and an expert in blockchain fusion technology, combined his rich practical experience gained while working in blockchain technology companies to discuss the possible impact of the technology on the Chinese film industry. With the help of video blockchain technology, intellectual property rights are expected to be protected more effectively, which will curb piracy and create more screening opportunities for filmmakers, thus helping the film industry to flourish.

Afterwards, Professor Hing Kai Chan, Associate Dean for Education and Student Experience and Professor of Operations Management at NUBS China, and Mr Guo Min, Nottink Platform Product Manager, introduced the platform in detail. The Nottink platform relies on an already granted patent for digital watermarking technology in 3D printing models and blockchain technology. It provides a convenient and reliable 3D printing encryption authentication platform for commercial end customers by taking advantage of the platformisation, systemisation and process. Industry experts from Beijing Dentons Law firm, reviewed and discussed the in-depth functions of the Nottink Platform, and they generally agreed that the platform is a promising solution to intellectual property protection in 3D printing intelligent manufacturing, and can promote the sustainable and benign development of the 3D printing industry.

UK session

At the UK session, Professor Angela and Dr Kwaku Adu-Admankwa explained the relationship between law and technology from the perspective of the production chain. From this perspective, the law does not hinder the progress of technology but rather is enacted to ensure the implementation of relevant systems and to avoid unnecessary disputes.

Dr Phoebe Li later shared what legal issues need to be faced and solved in biotechnology. Professor Onyeka, by integrating traditional contract law theory with automatic authorisation technology, explained the application of contract law in the automatic authorisation field. Finally, Dr Yaqin Mu explained the feasibility and necessity of copyright protection in 3D printing models from the perspective of property rights theory.

Shanghai session

The Shanghai session actively explored the protection of 3D printing, smart manufacturing and digital intellectual property from a legal perspective. The session was co-chaired by Professor Hing Kai Chan, and Professor Zhongfa Ma of Fudan University Law School. Professor Yu Du, Associate Dean of Fudan University Law School, delivered a welcome speech, pointing out that technological innovation and intelligent manufacturing have brought new problems and changes to the legal system. One general problem is the broadening of intellectual property recognition and the difficulty of defining it, making intellectual property infringement more subtle.

The first half of the conference focused on the theme of legal issues associated with digital intellectual property. Dr Hui Liu, Teaching Fellow at the Law School of East China University of Science and Technology, shared her research results on the establishment of a classified protection mechanism for intellectual property rights in data. She pointed out that the current issues of the intellectual property rights of data governance need to be urgently addressed to promote data innovation, privacy protection and data sharing. She emphasised that theoretical development can be driven by practical needs, and summarised the existing principles and norms of intellectual property protection in data, classification standards and performance evaluation mechanisms.

Dr Jiangang Shang, Associate Professor and Executive Dean of Silk Road Law School, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, combined his rich practical experience in data trading and intellectual property protection, and shared his views on "the theory and system of data rights and interests," reflecting on the double-sided nature of current data empowerment. He also proposed a new concept of "data product creator rights."

Yanbing Li, Assistant Research Fellow at Shanghai International Organizations and Global Governance, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, spoke on the characteristics of big data, especially those related to theft and issues of data protection. She compared current international and domestic laws, and regulations related to the prevention of big data theft for different objects, as well as their interaction with each other.

The second half of the session, chaired by Professor Zhongfa Ma, focused on the legal issues of intellectual property in 3D printing. Dr Yukai Wang, Assistant Professor at Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property, Tongji University, discussed the intellectual property law regulations involved in the production and dissemination of 3D printing digital models. He emphasised the importance of the production and dissemination of digital models in the implementation and legal recognition of 3D printing technology. These characterise the legal nature of digital models. He also offered suggestions on determining future legal liabilities in the production and dissemination of digital models under different circumstances.

Professor Zhongfa Ma later discussed fair use and infringement in 3D printing, proposing criteria for determining infringement in various fields of 3D printing. He also suggested the use of needed technical protection measures to prevent infringement in 3D printing, proposing the revision of regulations and the reversal of the burden of proof for future infringement.

This insightful conference shows the social responsibility of domestic enterprises for digital IP protection and their attention to the development of intelligent manufacturing. Thus, this platform provides experts and enterprises with an opportunity to share their experiences and learn more about the latest developments in technology.