Racing for Blockchain Patents: PBoC, Alibaba, IBM and more
In part 2 of blockchain patent analysis, we look at the current state of institutional adoption and examine the three key players in this field: PBoC, Alibaba and IBM!
State of Fintech and Blockchain Patents for Institutions
According to the “2018 Global Fintech Patent Ranking (TOP 20)” released by IPR Daily on 4 January, Ping An ranks 1st with a total of 1205 patent applications. Note that there are six Chinese companies on the list including Tencent, JD.com, Bank of China, Baidu and Alibaba. Alibaba ranks 2nd with a total of 1147 applications.
Exhibit 1: 2018 Global Fintech Patent Ranking (TOP 20)
Source: IPRdaily, incoPat, Blockchain.News Data
In terms of blockchain patents (See Exhibit 2), Alibaba and IBM topped the list with 90 and 89 applications. Despite Chinese hostile attitude towards ICOs, the People’s Bank of China is actively exploring blockchain technology with 44 patents filed in 2018. It is worth noting that Sony, Visa and Intel filed at least 20 blockchain patent applications as well.
Exhibit 2: Blockchain Patent Ranking in 2018
Source: IPRdaily.cn, Blockchain.News Data
PBoC is actively filing blockchain patents. A CBDC to come?
According to another report released by IPR Daily, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) rank fifth for the Top 100 global ranking of the number of blockchain patent. We believe that the blockchain patents by PBoC paved the way to a possible launch in Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) in future. PBoC has been actively recruiting blockchain engineers and legal expert. Blockchain engineers are essential to construct a CBDC with their expertise in system architecture, chip design, as well as cryptography and security protocol design. The blockchain patents from PBoC include digital wallets, which comprise of multi-signature security and private keys and the wallets can track user transaction histories.
What is Alibaba doing behind all these blockchain patents?
Alibaba has filed 90 blockchain patents in 2018. We believe the blockchain patents are applied to a number of diversified businesses for Alibaba. For example, Alibaba leverages its blockchain patent in speeding up cross border payments, with applications such as “A System and Method That Adjusts Account Balance on a Blockchain”. Besides, Alibaba launched its food trust network with PwC and Blackmores to combat the counterfeited food products sold into China via it’s online shopping platform, Tmall. We believe these applications are consistent with Alibaba’s “BASIC strategy” revealed in Oct 2017, which stands for Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Security, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing.
IBM to retain its dominance in blockchain patents!
As one of the most blockchain patent holders, IBM’s patents focus on network security and database management. IBM has issued at least two blockchain patents related to data services this month, including data management for self-driving vehicles (SDVs) and DLT-supported data sharing and validation. Besides, IBM obtained the patent on improving the security of permissioned blockchain networks in March 2019. We believe IBM is likely to retain its dominance in blockchain applications with its rapid pace in obtaining blockchain patents.
Summing up…
It is notable that some giants such as Facebook, JP Morgan and Samsung, have explicitly entered the battlefield of blockchain applications in 2019! It will not be surprising that these names will compete for most blockchain patents and the number of blockchain patents filed in 2019 can be twice as 2018!
Image Credit: ThoughtCo