What if law moved at light speed—not to block discovery, but to channel it? We sit down with the big idea that runs through today’s most ambitious missions: when ownership is clear and sharing is structured, innovation scales across nations, agencies, and even planets.

We start in orbit with the ISS, where inventorship follows astronauts and equipment, and use rights are negotiated before launch, so science never stalls at zero gravity. Then we shift to ITER, the global fusion project that separates background IP from generated IP and grants royalty-free, global, perpetual research licenses to every member. That single design choice turns competition into cooperation without closing the door on commercialization. On the lunar front, the Artemis Accords introduce interoperability and deconfliction zones—protecting operations without territorial claims—and bring private players under shared norms that reward transparency.

Back on Earth, Copernicus proves that open satellite data strengthens climate action, agriculture, and emergency response, while the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters operationalizes generosity with rapid, accountable data releases. We dive into NASA’s open source ecosystem—thousands of mission-grade tools vetted through NOSA and rigorous approvals—showing code as shared infrastructure that startups, labs, and agencies build on every day. Communication ties it all together: CCSDS standards give spacecraft a common language, royalty-free and openly published, cutting costs and accelerating cross-agency work. The Planetary Data System and the International Planetary Data Alliance extend that spirit to archives, harmonizing formats and metadata so scientists can reuse and cite with confidence. And the Interplanetary Internet—Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking—demonstrates how open standards thrive when anyone can implement, test, and improve them, from deep space to disaster zones on Earth.

Across these stories, a pattern emerges: plan ownership before liftoff, design openness with structure, standardize where it multiplies value, and pair publication with credit. That’s how IP becomes the engine of trust, not the price of participation. If this conversation moved your thinking, follow and subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so more curious minds can find us.

Check out “Protection for the Inventive Mind” – available now on Amazon in print and Kindle formats.

Playing Around INTA 2026: A Scenario Game for IP Lawyers – Intangiblia™

We’re in London at the INTA 2026 Annual Meeting, but we’re not doing a standard conference recap. We wanted to show how intellectual property work can be creative, inventive, and even fun, so we built THE INVENTIVE MINDSET GAME, a scenario game, and handed real IP lawyers a stack of tricky client prompts.Each prompt forces a choice: do you follow the client’s exact instructions, take an inventive counseling path, bring in an AI assist tool, or throw a curveball and plan for the worst-case scenario. From a smart home invention to a viral character and an influencer launching a skincare line, we dig into the practical decisions behind patent strategy, trademark protection, and copyright, including how to think about prior art, claim scope, brand control, and what “commercialization” actually demands.We also talk about the unglamorous but critical details that can make or break an IP strategy: picking the right trademark classes, avoiding coverage that doesn’t match the business, and sequencing filings when budgets are tight. If you’re a founder, creator, in-house counsel, or just curious about how IP law works in the real world, you’ll leave with clearer mental models and sharper questions to ask before you file anything.Subscribe for more stories and practical IP insights, share this with a friend building a brand, and leave a review if the game format helped you think differently about IP. What would you choose first: safe, inventive, AI-assisted, or curveball?Send us Fan MailCheck out "Protection for the Inventive Mind" – available now on Amazon in print and Kindle formats.The views and opinions expressed (by the host and guest(s)) in this podcast are strictly their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the entities with which they may be affiliated. This podcast should in no way be construed as promoting or criticizing any particular government policy, institutional position, private interest or commercial entity. Any content provided is for informational and educational purposes only.

1. Playing Around INTA 2026: A Scenario Game for IP Lawyers 08:56
2. Sports As IP Strategy 15:15
3. The Afterlife of Innovation: Can IP Outlive the Business That Created It? 19:44
4. Case Study: Lindt’s Gold Bunny Trademark Saga 22:40
5. What Kind of Negotiator Are You, Really? 39:39