The term Internet of Things (IoT) is a collective term for technologies that extend Internet connectivity to physical and virtual devices and everyday objects. This enables the interaction between humans and networked electronic systems as well as the cooperation of the devices or objects, respectively, between each other. Prominent examples include the Amazon DashTM button, which was discontinued at the beginning of 2019, the much-quoted refrigerator that automatically reorders milk when stocks run low, and more controversial applications in the field of video surveillance such as facial recognition algorithms.
What many IoT applications have in common is that in other technologies less important parameters such as the smallest possible design, minimum energy consumption or a rather narrow-band but far-reaching radio link (keyword LoRaWAN) are essential for their function, for example in the transmission of area-wide air quality data for traffic control in cities. This combination of different fields of technology poses great challenges in the field of patent law insofar as it can be difficult to explain to patent offices or courts the new and inventive interaction of the individual (possibly known) single technologies. Our patent attorneys having practical experience in this field provide competent advice:
