Is Data the New Gold? Considering Intellectual Property Protection and Regulation of Data

Abstract

This article reviews the economics literature on the optimal design of intellectual property, the current framework for protecting data, focussing on the European Union, and the main features of data. It combines these to ask how current intellectual property protection instruments and surrounding regulation could be adapted to more usefully protect (non-personal) data that require investment to create and encourage its diffusion. The main changes from current protections include an expansion of registration and cataloguing systems, more definition of quality certification, and increased attention to portfolios of protection mechanisms.