Smart urban mobility: a positive or negative IP space? A case study to test the role of IP in fostering data-driven innovation

Not all innovative processes rely on IP exclusive rights to incentivize and protect their content. While strategic considerations on the costs and convenience of IP enforcement generally play an important role, in specific sectors alternative norms and practices have proven more effective than exclusive rights in fostering progress by turning inclusivity into benefits, thus challenging IP protection at its core. At a first glance, the wide-ranging sector of digital data-driven innovations presents a twofold nature: on the one hand, they require remarkable investments, which likely call for a strict approach to IP rights; and on the other hand, they make interoperability and follow-up creations key factors of technological progress, thus valuing inclusivity in the enhancement of resource allocation and services. Against this background, the paper aims to investigate the role and incentivizing potential of IP rights in the smart urban mobility context, which represents an innovative sector of remarkable social impact and is rapidly on the rise. By applying the conceptual framework of legal and economic theories exploring the so-called ‘IP negative spaces’, this study highlights strengths and weaknesses of the exclusive rights paradigm in the promotion and management of innovative ideas for advancing urban planning and life in European cities.