/ How Much Value Is in Your IP-iece of Music?

Daniel Sacasas – Patent Engineer

Francesca Bozzo – Associate

Traditionally, music has been closely associated with copyright, licensing, and, more recently, the debates surrounding generative artificial intelligence. This time, however, we’re dancing to our own beat in line with WIPO’s theme for this year’s World Intellectual Property Day—“IP and Music: Feel the beat of IP”, focusing on what we’re passionate about: inventions and innovation from a more technical perspective, particularly the patents behind the creation and production of music.

For this, we put on our special glasses, the ones that allow us to see beyond the materiality of the things around us, and asked ourselves: Who is (or was) behind every instrument and tool required to produce the song playing through our headphones? The result was surprising: there’s so much investment, effort, and intellectual property behind a piece of music, not just in the melody or harmony, but in the physical space where composers, lyricists, singers, producers, and musicians converge to create using the tools developed by inventors and innovators.

Image generated with Copilot.

We identified more than 317 patents for guitars, 62 for electric guitars, 19,808 related to pianos, and 288 for drum kits, among others. Music not only nourishes the soul, it’s also an industry where innovation translates into industrial property rights that benefit us all, whether we’re listeners or professionals dedicated to protecting those rights. Here are a few examples that caught our attention:

Hawkins Upright Piano – Isaac Hawkins (1801)

The first patent related to piano development is attributed to Isaac Hawkins, who patented an ingenious, though not particularly functional, upright piano design with a foldable keyboard in 1801, which he called “the grand portable.” While Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the pianoforte in 1709, modern patents didn’t yet exist, making Hawkins one of the first to obtain a patent for a piano design, marking a major milestone in the evolution of the instrument.

US2089171 – Electric Stringed Musical Instrument – George D. Beauchamp (1934)

The first patent for an electric guitar was granted on August 10, 1937, to George D. Beauchamp, who, alongside Adolph Rickenbacker, developed the first electric guitar known as The Frying Pan. This instrument revolutionized music by allowing string vibrations to be amplified via a magnetic field.

US3530224A – Foot-Controlled Continuously Variable Preference Circuit (1970)

This patent introduced a now-iconic device in rock music: the wah-wah pedal. It described a novel circuit that allowed musicians to continuously alter a resonant frequency while playing, using a foot pedal. This created the expressive, vocal-like “wah” effect now standard in electric guitar performance.

US463569 – Chusetts – Emile Berliner (1877)

Emile Berliner’s microphone, combined with telegraph and telephone systems, was a pioneering invention that converted acoustic energy into electrical signals, vastly improving sound transmission.

KR0159040B1 – Amplifier Device for Sound Equipment (1995)

This patent details a high-fidelity audio amplifier design that has played a fundamental role in the evolution of sound amplification technology. It is notable for its ability to temporally divide sound signals received from multiple playback devices (CD, tape, broadcast, VCR) and assign them independently to different users. The system amplifies sound signals sampled at specific time intervals, and then restores them to their original form using inverse modulation, allowing each user to listen to their desired source without interference.

US200521 – Improvement in Phonograph or Speaking Machines – Thomas Edison (1878)

The first patent related to a console for recording studios, attributed to Thomas Edison for his invention of the phonograph, marked the beginning of sound recording technology. The most significant feature of this patent was its ability to record and reproduce sound using a tin-coated cylinder. The phonograph used a diaphragm and a needle to inscribe sound vibrations onto the cylinder’s surface, allowing the recordings to be played back later. This invention was foundational for the development of sound recording technology and laid the groundwork for future advancements in the music and recording industries.

WO2007056632A2 – Mobile Recording Studio System (2006)

In the 21st century, we find this patent describing a mobile recording studio system, notable for its ability to be transported from one location to another and set up in a temporary, semi-permanent, or permanent configuration at the new site. The integration of digital recording technology within the enclosure enhances recording quality and facilitates the editing and layering of multiple live and pre-recorded audio and video inputs, all while maintaining a controlled environment, a critical factor for preserving sound and image quality during recording.

The digital era—and the digitalization of music—has profoundly impacted the industry and reshaped the business model. Streaming platforms, generative AI, and the democratization of music production have transformed how artists create and audiences consume music. Today, an artist may not need a record label, a traditional studio, or even a producer—but they will always need the creations of other inventors: the instruments, tools, and devices that make music possible.