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AI, AR and robots in the 5G era
"Have you ever wondered what the world will be like in twenty years?"
Back in 2000 when the market first saw the launch of Nokia 3310, no one could have envisioned transitioning from 2G to 5G in twenty years' time. Labor-intensive manufacturing has also progressed gradually towards automation and smart technology. As things stand, the key to smart technology is AI development, one of today's trending topics.
To give readers a glimpse into how IP rights can be used to create and protect a new market, this article will illustrate basic concepts and principles of formulating trademark strategies with focusing on the latest technology trends, i.e. topics of 5G, AI and robot development.
II. Formulating trademark strategies in the 5G era
(I) 5G, also known as the fifth generation mobile communications technology, is the latest communications technology. As 5G networks make use of higher-frequency radio waves, 5G signals travel shorter distances, requiring network systems to be densely built. The goods and services for building 5G network systems include building network facilities, telecommunications transmission and network security.
(II) Outdated strategies of trademark planning focus only on those classifications of goods or services that are directly related, overlooking the application areas that may, in the future, become extensions of the goods or services covered by the applied-for mark. This oversight gives others the chance to make a profit in fields of business that originally should have been profitable only to the trademark owner; sometimes this means another party races to register a similar trademark. Under such circumstances, the trademark owner certainly has recourse to the law, i.e. filing an opposition or invalidation to obtain relief pursuant to trademark-related administrative proceedings. Yet, it one could devise appropriate trademark strategies when applying for trademark registration, it could potentially save one from having to spend a lot of time in handling any subsequent administrative proceedings resulting from a dispute. This article will introduce the related goods & services involved in 5G technology, which would be helpful for trademark planning.
III. AI, AR and robots
(I) From telemedicine to precision medicine
Telemedicine video conferencing, albeit in a simpler form, as provided by some hospitals and clinics to give patients the option of not having to visit medical facilities in person, has effectively achieved patient divert at the preliminary stage, saved travel time for patients, and helped to alleviate potential congestion at the emergency department. With the advent of precision medicine, which promises to lower the possibility of misdiagnosis and delayed treatment, telemedicine now has another potent tool at its disposal. With 5G networks enabling high-speed transmission, such data and information as a patient's pathological expression, blood data and drug reaction collected by medical equipment can be rapidly uploaded to secure cloud-based AI platforms. Subsequent analysis with AI computing will help find the most suitable medical solution at the same for the patient, for further evaluation by healthcare professionals. This might help offer the patient effective treatment and lower the number of return medical visits.
For a company seeking to develop and expand its business by offering telemedicine and precision medicine services, what goods and services does it have to consider when formulating its trademark strategy? First of all, telemedicine consultation requires a combination of video equipment, internet communications technology and professional medical services, which involve computer hardware, internet servers, medical apparatus and auxiliary articles, as well as remote medical services. On the other hand, precision medicine brings together 5G technologies and AI to offer patients customized treatment solutions, which involve computer hardware, internet servers, medical apparatus and auxiliary articles, telecommunications transmission services, as well as computer data processing services.
In recent years, some businesses have proposed building smart robots for medical purposes that combine telemedicine and precision medicine. Such robots do not fit in the category of simply offering value-added medical services—they offer patients care and companionship. On the outside they may look robotic, but as they give daily reminders about medical prescriptions and provide timely analysis and reports of treatment solutions, patients will come to feel a sense of trust and depend on them. In this way, robots fulfill patient's need of companionship. With this type of robot, one needs to take note of the aforementioned goods and services as well as the classification of goods for robots.
(II) Smart home built by smart robots
In contrast with the aforesaid highly specialized robots with medical applications, more and more manufacturers and businesses are launching smart household robots that combine the technologies of 5G and AI.
There are several types of smart home robots, each serving a distinct customer base. Take our aging society for an example. As people age, they will gradually lose their ability to do household chores. Smart home robots can learn the lifestyle habits of the elderly and take over such chores as cooking and cleaning so as to maintain a certain living quality for them. For a family with children and with the parents still in their prime, they may need a smart robot that focuses on education and interaction, for receiving remote teaching services through it. The goods or services that may pertain to these types of robots under the current trademark registration system according to purpose and need may include the following: goods or services involving 5G network, goods for robot cleaning, goods for robots, air purifiers, and goods or services in the field of educational and household management.
(III) From offline to online: reality-based remote shopping and home-buying
In the 5G era, the technology for combining augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) application services with digital information and reality and for showing the entire virtual image on media for consumers to experience reality without an on-site visit requires considerable computing power and high-speed networks. The development of 5G and AI has given room for this technology to develop. One could say that AR and VR application services are currently the trending industry.
In contrast with the entirely virtual worlds often seen in gaming applications built with VR, AR integrates digital information with reality to cater to consumer needs of remote shopping and travel. Under the current trademark registration system, the goods or services that may pertain to the foregoing technologies and services include goods or services involving 5G network, wearable electronics, and such services as computer programming and computer data processing. Anyone who seeks to be a pioneer in this field and undertakes long-term development certainly has to devise trademark strategies accordingly.
(IV) Contact-free services and unmanned stores in the post-pandemic era
Long before the pandemic hit, unmanned convenience stores were already up and running in Taiwan. All sales as well as food and drink services in such stores are rendered through self-service; self-checkout makes use of facial recognition technology combined with electronic ticket cards. To perform the actions involved, multi-sensory and AI motion detection identification technologies are required; the support of 5G networks is also needed to connect information. Already, unmanned stores providing this kind of contact-free service have become a much-discussed topic among the next generation. The goods or services under the current trademark registration system that may be involved with this type of service are numerous, including at least those goods or services involving 5G network, retailing of goods in general, and such services as computer programming and computer data processing.
IV. Conclusion
Given the above introduction and analysis, we conclude that manufacturers and businesses hoping to develop such industries as smart city, smart home, self-driving car or smart robot that are extensions of 5G networks and AI must attach importance to the goods or services under the current trademark registration system pertaining to 5G networks and AI when formulating trademark strategies. The key to building a trademark strategy, as illustrated by this article, is gaining insight into the structure of an industry and its core concepts. Only through a complete understanding of industrial trends and technological developments can the right trademark for use with goods and services be registered to serve as impenetrable walls protecting the company's trademark portfolio.