Lost in Space: How To Ensure That Terrestrial IP Rights On Space-Based Innovations Don't Get Ionized

This presentation explores the high-stakes challenge of applying proven terrestrial intellectual property procurement and enforcement frameworks to space-based inventions and manufacturing. As commercial activities accelerate—onboard production aboard space stations, orbital factories, and micro-gravity assembly lines—innovators face the real risk that their IP rights could simply “ionize” and vanish in the legal vacuum of outer space.

Attendees will examine how core U.S. patent laws translate (or falter) in orbit. Topics include the reach of 35 U.S.C. § 271 for direct and indirect infringement of processes conducted in zero gravity; whether products manufactured in space infringe terrestrial patents once they re-enter Earth markets; and the protective role of 35 U.S.C. § 105 (Inventions in Outer Space), which deems qualifying U.S.-jurisdiction space inventions as “made within the United States” for patentability purposes—while highlighting its jurisdictional limits and exceptions for foreign-registered spacecraft.

Practical procurement strategies take center stage: drafting claims that survive orbital realities, navigating PCT international filings despite their terrestrial territorial focus, and leveraging accelerated examination paths. On the enforcement side, the session dissects International Trade Commission actions under 19 U.S.C. § 1337 (treating re-entering space goods as potential “imports”), ITAR export controls, WTO tariff complications, contributory infringement in multinational collaborations, and the Outer Space Treaty’s impact on liability.

Designed for entrepreneurs, space manufacturers, and their legal counsel, this session delivers actionable guidance to safeguard IP across the full trajectory—from launchpad filing to orbital enforcement—ensuring your innovations remain protected, not lost in space.