A Research Award to Lorenzo Berto and Claris Azrael Teo

Lorenzo Berto, LL.M. Candidate in Law of Internet Technology at Bocconi University, and Claris Azrael Teo, Double Degree Student (LL.M. at Bocconi University and Singapore Management University), have won respectively the first and second prize at the 4iP Council Research Awards, presented by the 4iP Council, a European organization dedicated to developing high quality academic insight and empirical evidence on topics related to intellectual property and innovation.

Berto, in his award-winning paper, "Are you exhausted with NFTs already?", deals with Non-Fungible Tokens ("NFTs"), which lately have become a buzzword. "I tried to see NFTs from a legal point of view and I found out that NFTs do involve copyright. NFTs create a new layer in the bundle of rights granted to the copyright holder, called the meta-ownership right, which is represented by a digital certificate that proves that a given digital file belongs to a specific person," says Berto. Therefore, the paper suggests that, while some "old" tools are still relevant, copyright should acknowledge that NFTs are peculiar digital objects; hence, some well-established principles should be re-assessed. Notably, the distinction between physical and digital objects vis-à-vis the exhaustion of the distribution right does not seem to stand any longer, when it comes to NFTs' secondary markets.

Teo, in her award-winning paper, "The fight against counterfeit goods on Instagram," illustrates how, with the advent of social media and e-commerce, counterfeiting has become more widespread than ever. "The paper was not simply to identify the lacuna in the law and propose legal solutions, but also attempted to understand other factors that contribute to counterfeiting and propose alternative solutions to combat counterfeiting. The fight against counterfeiting should be a joint effort from governments, social media platforms, internet providers, the brands themselves and the community," says Teo.

The LLM in Law of Internet Technology is a Master of Laws that is launching its sixth edition (applications are currently open for the Spring Round). The program is fully devoted to exploring the relationship between law and digital technologies. In fact, it provides a thorough overview on the legal issues emerging in the digital age, such as: the use of artificial intelligence systems, protection of intellectual property, competition in digital markets, and data protection.

"We truly are proud of the achievements of our students," says Oreste Pollicino, Program Director. "We are committed to further enlarging our community and look forward to extending the LL.M. network to more and more countries."

"The program structure also reflects the unprecedented changes in the digital age we can witness every day", adds Marco Bassini, Program Coordinator. "For this reason, in the next edition the program will also include new courses on digital sustainability, online contracts, and legal tech, which are among the most sensitive subject-matters."

"LL.M. has been an important experience for me. Especially, I appreciated the international environment," comments Berto. "At the same time, the program focuses also on the European Union, which is fundamental for me since I am an Italian lawyer and work in the EU context."

Teo continues by saying "I absolutely agree. Moreover, in light of the glocalization of internet technologies, this LL.M. seeks to understand the major legal issues within internet technologies that are prevalent globally and encourages people from all over the world to join and participate."