Manita Rawat

Behind the scenes of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a match based in data is racking up points. It is estimated that the tournament's 104 matches will generate more than 90 petabytes of data, representing a staggering 45-fold increase over the volume produced during the 2022 games. So who owns all that data? The answer sits at the intersection of intellectual property (IP) law, contractual rights, privacy and biometric regulations, antitrust law, and emerging AI governance frameworks.

As investment in data center infrastructure accelerates, intellectual property (IP) risk is becoming an increasingly important consideration for developers, operators, investors, and cloud providers. While data center projects are often viewed through the lenses of real estate, power, financing, and construction, patent holders are now focusing on the technologies deployed within these facilities and the ways in which they are integrated and operated.

As data centers integrate numerous advanced technologies within a single operating environment, they are becoming a natural focal point for intellectual property (IP) scrutiny, including patent disputes, with patent infringement claims tied to data center operations increasing. For developers, operators, investors, and cloud providers, the takeaway is clear: It is no longer sufficient to treat IP as a downstream vendor issue or a standard contractual indemnification allocation exercise.