Legal Aspects

Liability on the Robotics Field

When discussing issues of liability, it is often claimed that robots constitute peculiar entities, which do not fall squarely into the existing legal framework, and that new legal paradigms are thus needed for regulating the harmful consequences caused by them.

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Intellectual Property

It is worth emphasizing that IP protection – via patents, copyrights, designs, trade secrets, trademarks, etc. – is key to the field of interactive robotics. The lengthy and expensive process of designing, developing, producing and delivering interactive robotic products relies on IP protection to recoup up-front investments and to fend off competitors seeking to capitalize on the R&D investments of their rivals.

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Safety in Robotics

Under product safety regulation, a product is presumed to be safe it meets all statutory safety requirements under European or national law. Which states that under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions, do not present any risk or only the minimum risks compatible with the product’s use, considered to be acceptable and consistent with a high level of protection for the safety and health of persons.

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Taxation

Nowadays, world trends already show a continued proliferation in the use of robotics. In this context, many questions arise: should taxation intervene to slow down the spread of use of robots, or to finance new opportunities?, should companies that invest in robotics as a substitution for workers pay taxes on Social Security contributions for the benefits obtained due to the increase of productivity?

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