Protecting Intellectual Property in Space

with the advent of the space shuttle and serious planning for a future space station, opportunities for profitable private sector activities in space are increasing. Many intellectual property protection issues--that is, issues concerning patent, copyright, and trade secret protection for the products of human creativity--will be raised by space commercialization activities. Space technology is often novel and the body of law protecting it, both nationally and internationally, is still developing. For example, developing technology for space communications raises a number of copyright issues, as does commercialization of remote sensing data. In the United States, protecting intellectual property is considered essential to providing incentives for commercial involvement in space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration\u27s flexible, effective intellectual property policies may be used as a starting point or model in resolving issues arising out of future space commercialization activities