Joint study on intellectual property rights and non-fungible tokens

The United States Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office are conducting a joint study to consider intellectual property (IP) law and policy issues associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This study continues the two offices’ ongoing work to explore emerging technologies and their implications for IP rights, and responds to a request from the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.

To assist in this effort, the offices issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) on November 23, 2022 seeking public comment on a range of IP issues and topics associated with NFTs. A subsequent FRN, published on December 20, 2022, extended the deadline for submission of comments to February 3, 2023. Written responses received by the submission deadline may be accessed through the federal e-rulemaking portal, regulations.gov.

Public roundtables

In addition to the request for comments, the two offices held three public roundtables in January 2023. Each was held virtually and livestreamed. Please see the following links for more information, or to view a recording of these roundtables:

Roundtable 1: Trademarks and NFTs (January 24, 2023)
Roundtable 2: Patents and NFTs (January 26, 2023)