Technological developments are advancing significantly, which entails generating a constant update to the application of the law, which implies striving for a continuous and evolutionary development of legal figures that are involved and effective to the extent of their progress.
Based on the foregoing, it is evident that currently our legislation cannot be isolated from the virtual reality that is being experienced globally. Therefore, and as a consequence of the present era of technological immersion, the legislator will be forced to incorporate and generate changes to the regulations, where foundations are laid on the correct application of the rights and obligations that arise in the various scenarios where virtual reality is executed.
Thus, and due to all the challenges that virtual reality implies, the legal field must regulate the new relationships and operations that can be carried out in the execution and development that emanate from it, such as digital rights, digital identity, data protection and privacy, property rights, and everything that entails bringing reality into the virtual realm. Likewise, we cannot be oblivious to the different concerns that arise about the regulation itself in the criminal, tax, and liability areas.
In this sense, it is evident that interactions in virtual reality are developed through contractual relationships between the site owner, consumers, and users who register to it. Therefore, it not only implies a legal challenge, but also a great change in the business approach, since as has been evidenced today, large companies have entered to request the registration of their trademark in order to operate their service and/or product virtually.
Hand in hand with the above, industrial property law is the area that has the greatest influence on development in virtual reality, since within the legal field, it seeks to protect the domain that a person has over their creative activity, both in regard to the intellectual aspect and the economic or patrimonial aspect. In line with this, in the event that the rights to exploit trademarks in virtual reality continue to be granted, the right of exclusivity must be regulated and guidelines established that allow us to indicate the product and/or service to be offered.
On the other hand, and according to Colombian regulations, which regulate matters concerning trademark protection, two great challenges arise: the first is to indicate its classification according to the parameters issued by the International Classification of Nice, for its proper protection, since although currently the product and/or service can be classified, its application directly in virtual reality remains ambiguous, and the second and most important is the extension and compliance with the right of exclusivity in the territory, in the sense that these parameters will allow us to exercise due process to enforce the rights held over industrial property against third parties and against the very platform that derives from virtual reality.
In this measure, we are faced with transcending current business models, involving liability that may vary according to the agreed terms and conditions, the protection of personal data that aims to generate user consent, the interaction of users globally, which poses the challenge of the applicable regulations regarding software, public order, and community norms that direct their interaction.
Paula Florez – AZC CONSULTING ATTORNEY