Insights & Events
March 14, 2023

Space the final jurisdictional frontier

Jurisdictional issues in space law are not just an issue for intellectual property ownership rights. It is great news that the Intellectual Property Office is setting up a team to help the UK work out how intellectual property ownership rights will be protected in outer space, but wider issues in space law need to be addressed too now that private companies are operating in space, as Sarah Murray and I said in our 2021 article To go boldly where no litigator has gone before. With the UK promising a £5bn investment in space science and technology, development in space law looks to rocket sooner rather than later!

Williams has established a team at his office in Newport, south Wales, to help the UK to work out how intellectual property ownership rights will be protected in outer space. It is uncharted territory as space “remains largely a legal vacuum”, according to the International Trademark Association (Inta). Given the number of rockets, satellites and even tourists now milling around in Earth’s low orbit, however, it makes sense to try to influence what happens.
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