blockchain – disruption or hype? · authoritative over another • “hacking” the blockchain...

BLOCKCHAIN – Disruption or Hype?

Nigel ClarkeHead of Patent Information ResearchEuropean Patent Office

Vashe KanesarajahDirector, Client AdvocacyDerwent

Ed WhiteDirector, Patent AnalyticsDerwent

A QUICK BRIEFING

WHAT IS “THE” BLOCKCHAIN?

• Transactions are added to the chain as a block of data

• New blocks contain encrypted information concerning the previous block, therefore no block can be changed without changing the entire chain

• All data in the chain is therefore permanently recorded

CAN’T BE CHANGED NO AUTHORITIVE VERSION TRANSPARENT• Versions of the blockchain are

distributed around the cloud• No central version is held to be

authoritative over another• “Hacking” the blockchain would

require changing it in every location

• Anyone can review the entire blockchain

• Makes the blockchain verifiable• Creates an ecosystem where all

actors are aware of the present state of the blockchain, and can add to it

Permanent, Decentralised, Open Record – the “distributed ledger”

WHY WAS IT DEVELOPED? WHAT IS IT FOR?

• To solve a basic issue in digital currency – the “double spending” problem:

How can you prevent the same digital currency token being spent more than once?How do you know how much currency anyone has?How do you know who has spent what, and where it now resides?

• Required a completely secure, un-editable register of transactions that everyone can access – the blockchain

• Created in some mystery – the original developer(s) use the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the original source of the open bitcoin cryptocurrency

• The technology/technique has spawned an entire cryptocurrency industry, with many separate blockchain implementations with different flavours and rules

• Importantly, the principles of the distributed ledger has uses outside of cryptocurrencies…

WHAT DOES THE BLOCKCHAIN PATENT LANDSCAPE LOOK LIKE?

European Patent Office – Blockchain patent landscape study

Background

Material already presented: Yann Menière (Chief Economist) at the EPO’s Blockchain conference in

December 2018, Geert Boedt at Search Matters 8th May 2019 https://www.epo.org/learning-events/events/conferences/search-

matters/programme.html Nigel Clarke (Patent Information Research) PIUG 7th May 2019 https://www.piug.org/an19program

7

https://www.epo.org/learning-events/events/conferences/search-matters/programme.html

https://www.piug.org/an19program


Blockchain patent families

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1st priority year

1st publication year

1st grant year

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s Blockchain patenting took off in 2015, since then we encounter high publication rates, and steady growth of

granted patents.

Note: 2018 data incomplete (publications until 10/2018), decrease in priority filing in 2018 is due to 18 month time lag until publication.


Blockchain EPC patent families

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s Similar trend with EPC patent families Almost 4/5 of EPC families include an EP filing

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017


1st priority year

1st application year

Note: EPC is a patent family that has at least one filing at EPO or any other of the 38 EPC member states. Not all EP filings are already published for 2017 (or 2018)

without EP filing22%

with EP filing78%

EP filings share (EPC patent families,

1st publication years 2008-2016)


Patent applications per patent authority (2013-2018)

1st publication year*

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s

High growth of Chinese patent applications since 2016. Steady growing rate of Blockchain patent application in US, WO and KR.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

CN

US

WO

EP

KR

Note: Per patent family, only one patent application per patent authority is considered. * 2018 data incomplete (publications until 10/2018)


Patent applications of top 10 applicants (2013-2018)

1st publication year*

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s IBM (US) leads in 2018 followed by COINPLUG (KR) and ALIBABA (CN).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

IBM (US)

ALIBABA (CN)

COINPLUG (KR)

BOE TECHNOLOGY (CN)

MASTERCARD (US)

BANK OF AMERICA (US)

CHINA UNICOM (CN)

NCHAIN (GB)

VISA (US)

FUZAMEI TECHNOLOGY (CN)

* 2018 data incomplete (publications until 10/2018)


Patent families with granted patents of top 10 applicants (2013-2018)

1st grant year*

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s

High number of patent families with granted patents for Korean company COINPLUG probably due to different granting speeds in the patent systems (KR vs. US or EP)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

COINPLUG

IBM

VISA

MODERNITY FINANCIAL HOLDINGS

GUARDTIME

MASTERCARD

METAPS PLUS

ACCENTURE

PAYPAL

ONECONNECT

* 2018 data incomplete (publications until 10/2018)


Markets & Jurisdictions – Where are Blockchain patents filed?

Distribution of patent applications (patent families counting by 1st publication

year)

Top 5 patent authorities with Blockchain patent applications 2008-2018Patent families counting by 1st publication year

(per family only 1 application per patent authority is counted)

40% of all Blockchain patents are filed in China, EPO is fourth, after US and WO

2417

1232

897

344

276

CN

US

WO

EP

KR

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

CN40%

US20%

WO15%

EP6%

KR4%

AU2%

JP2%

CA2%

IN2%

GB2%

TW2%

BR1%

DE1%

SG1%


Geographical origins (whole dataset, 4096 patent families)

21981089

221

104

72

55

45

41

26

26

Most patent families have their origin in US and China (first priority filings)

CN 2198US 1089KR 221GB 104WO 104EP 73JP 72TW 55AU 45DE 41FR 26IN 26ZA 6BE 4CA 4UA 4RU 3CZ 2ES 2IL 2IT 2LU 2PH 2SG 2BR 1EA 1HK 1HU 1NL 1SE 1

Mapamundi with priority country filings of all patents of the dataset

Europe = 259 (EP + EPC)


Geographical origins (WO patent applications, 897 patent families)

450

Most WO patent applications have their origin in US (first priority filings) followed by Europe

US 450CN 92WO 91GB 68KR 56EP 44DE 29JP 19AU 14IN 10FR 7ZA 4LU 2UA 2BE 1CA 1ES 1HU 1NL 1RU 1SE 1SG 1

Mapamundi with priority country filings of WO patents

92

68

56

29



Geographical origins (EP applications, 344 patent families)

171

Most EP patent applications have their origin in US (first priority filings)

US 171EP 59GB 23WO 20DE 15FR 12CN 10JP 8KR 6AU 4IN 4IT 2CZ 1ES 1HK 1HU 1IL 1NL 1SE 1SG 1ZA 1

Mapamundi with priority country filings of WO patents (numbering +10 patent families, without EP and WO patents)

23

10

1512



Blockchain WO applications and the EPO*

EPO is the preferred International Search Authority for PCT search reports:

EPO is the second most selected PCT receiving office:

EP32%

US27%

KR20%

CN5%

Other

More than a third have an EP member in the family:

US50%

EP13%

Direct filing (IB)10%

KR6%

CN5%

Other

* 1st publication years 2008-2016. For recent PCT applications EP members cannot yet be identified

No EP member in family; 90; 63%

EP member in family; 177; 66%


Geographical origins of patent families (IP3 and IP5 patent families)

Note: Top 10 authorities (first priority country of international patent families IP3 and IP5)

Most IP5 and IP3 patent families have chosen EP as priority office after US

17

4

3

1

112

15

10

9

9

9

9

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

US

EP

WO

GB

JP

CN

KR

IP5 (US, EP, JP, CN, KR) IP3 (Any three out of US, EP, JP, CN, KR)


Top Applicants (Worldwide, EP)

Top applicants EPTop applicants worldwide

Top 10 applicants by patent families

EP Applicants Patent families

VISA (US) 16

MASTERCARD (US) 14

SIEMENS (DE) 12

ACCENTURE (IE) 10

NOKIA (FI) 9

NCHAIN (GB) 7

SONY (JP) 7

BT (GB) 6

GEMALTO (NL) 6

NEC (JP) 6

Worldwide Applicants Patent families

IBM (US) 111

ALIBABA (CN) 88

COINPLUG (KR) 88

BOE TECHNOLOGY (CN) 61

MASTERCARD (US) 51

BANK OF AMERICA (US) 46

CHINA UNICOM (CN) 46

NCHAIN (GB) 45

VISA (US) 41

FUZAMEI TECHNOLOGY (CN) 36


Top Inventors (Worldwide, EP)

Inventor Patent families Affiliation*

FALK RAINER 11 SIEMENS (DE)

DAVIS STEVEN CHARLES 7 MASTERCARD (US)

DANIEL JOSHUA 6 BT (GB)

DUCATEL GERY 6 BT (GB)

GIORDANO GIUSEPPE 6 ACCENTURE (IE)

SAVANAH STEPHANE 6 NCHAIN (UK)

WRIGHT CRAIG STEVEN 6 NCHAIN (UK)

BULDAS AHTO 5 GUARDTIME (UK)

STÖCKER CARSTEN 5 INNOGY INNOVATION (DE)

VIALE EMMANUEL 5 ACCENTURE (IE)

Top inventors EPTop inventors worldwide

Inventor Patent families Affiliation*

HONG JAY WU 88 COINPLUG (KR)

UHR JOON SUN 85 COINPLUG (KR)

SONG JOO HAN 66 COINPLUG (KR)

TAN ZHIYONG 52BEIJING EUROPE CHAIN TECHNOLOGY

(CN) / BEIJING RUI ZHUO XITONG TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (CN)

LIU XIN 49 SHENZHEN GOLO CHELIAN DATA TECHNOLOGY (CN)

LIU JUN 39 SHENZHEN GOLO CHELIAN DATA TECHNOLOGY (CN)

ZHANG YONG 38 BEIJING RUI ZHUO XITONG TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (CN)

WU SIJIN 36 FUZAMEI TECHNOLOGY (CN)

HUANG BUTIAN 33 YUNPHANT (CN)

LU CHENGYE 31 CHINA CHAIN TECHNOLOGY (CN)

*Inventors company affiliation by the time of the patent filing (may have changed over the time)


Top patents

Top patents by citations received

YEAR* APPLICANT TITLE & NUMBER CITATIONS ** LEGAL STATUS

2014 NANTWORKS (US)

Healthcare transaction validation via blockchain proof-of-work,

systems and methods(US20150332283)

74 Applied but not yet granted

2014 BLOCKTECH (US)

System and method for securely receiving and counting votes in an

election(US9836908)

63 Granted (US)

2015 TORONTO DOMINION BANK (CA)

Document tracking on a distributed ledger

(US20170048216)46 Applied but not

yet granted

2014 MODERNITY FINANCIAL (TW)

Data analytic and security mechanism for implementing a hot

wallet service(US9672499)

44 Granted (US)

2012 ENT TECHNOLOGIES (US)

Generalized entity network translation (GENT)

(US9876775)41 Granted (US)

*First priority year ** Citations received, patent family counting

Top patents by family size

YEAR* APPLICANT TITLE & NUMBER FAMILY MEMBERS

LEGAL STATUS

2016 NCHAIN (UK)Registry and automated management method for

blockchain-enforced smart contracts(EP3257191)

12 Granted(EP)

2016 BLACK GOLD COIN (US)

Systems and methods for providing block chain-based multifactor personal identity verification

(US9985964)11 Granted

(US, AU)

2016 NCHAIN (UK)

Determining a common secret for the secure exchange of information and hierarchical,

deterministic cryptographic keys (EP3364598)

11 Granted (EP)

2016 NCHAIN (UK)

Secure multiparty loss resistant storage and transfer of cryptographic keys for blockchain

based systems in conjunction with a wallet management system

(EP3259724)

11

Applied but not

yet granted

2015 MASTERCARD (US)

Method and system for integration of market exchange and issuer processing for blockchain-

based transactions(EP3298550)

10 Granted(US)

European Patent Office – Blockchain patent landscape study 22

Technology fields (main CPC, group level)

Patent families by Top 10 Main CPC groups

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Payment architectures, schemes or protocols (G06Q-020)

Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication (H04L-009)

Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security (H04L-063)

Security arrangements for protecting computers (G06F-021)

Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies (G06Q-040)

Commerce, e.g. shopping or e-commerce (G06Q-030)

Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods (G06F-017)

Data processing systems or methods - Administration; Management (G06Q-010)

Network-specific arrangements or communication protocols supporting networked applications (H04L-067)


Top players by Technology fields

Payment architectures, schemes or protocols

Applicant Patent families

COINPLUG (KR) 43

MASTERCARD (US) 29


VISA (US) 22

IBM (US) 20

Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or

secure communication


NCHAIN (GB) 20

IBM (US) 14

VISA (US) 14

COINPLUG (KR) 13

GUARDTIME (GB) 9

Network architectures or network communication protocols for network

security

Applicant Patent familiesTONGFUDUN TECHNOLOGY (CN) 13


IBM (US) 10

ALIBABA (CN) 8

ACCENTURE (IE) 6

Security arrangements for protecting computers


COINPLUG (KR) 13

BUNDESDRUCKEREI (DE) 9

ALIBABA (CN) 8

BT (GB) 7

ERICSSON (SE) 5

Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies

Applicant Patent familiesFUZAMEI TECHNOLOGY (CN) 12

COINPLUG (KR) 8

IBM (US) 8

BOE TECHNOLOGY (CN) 4

FACTOM (US) 4


Patent citation - Who is influencing whom?

Node map is limited to Blockchain applicants with min. 10 patent families and min. 4 citations

Green circle =total Blockchain patent portfolio of the applicant (families)Arrow = Arrow and number indicates how many patents cite the applicant where the arrow is directed at


Blockchain – Evolution 2018

First publication date

126133

177163

200

242 247

226

349

334

8288

8289

109

133

162

127

269

224

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

January February March April May June July August September October

Earliest publication date (ALL)

Earliest publication date (CN)

Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s


IP3 and IP5 patent families by 1st publication year


Cou

nt o

f pat

ent f

amilie

s

7

12

18

12 12

8

21

34

52

10

34

5

12

13

6

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

IP3

IP5


Blockchain – WO applications

Top 10 authorities (first priority country of WO application)

WO Applicants Patent families

NCHAIN (GB) 44

MASTERCARD (US) 43

COINPLUG (KR) 36

VISA (US) 35

WALMART (US) 24

ALIBABA (CN) 23

NOKIA (FI) 23

CLOUDMINDS (CN) 18

NEC (JP) 17

INTEL (US) 16

Top 10 WO applicants

Most Blockchain related WO applications have first filings (priority) in the US

450

92

91

68

56

44

29

19

14

10

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

US

CN

WO

GB

KR

EP

DE

JP

AU

IN


Blockchain – EP applications

Top 10 authorities (first priority country of EP application)

EP Applicants Patent families

VISA (US) 16

MASTERCARD (US) 14

SIEMENS (DE) 12

ACCENTURE (IE) 10

NOKIA (FI) 9

NCHAIN (GB) 7

SONY (JP) 7

BT (GB) 6

GEMALTO (NL) 6

NEC (JP) 6

Top 10 EP applicants

Most Blockchain related EP applications have first filings (priority) in the US0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

US

EP

GB

WO

DE

FR

CN

JP

KR

AU

RECENT EVENTS – in the midst of a bubble?

60% of Blockchain/Distributed Ledger inventions have published in the last

300 days

Since November, 44 new blockchain inventions published per working day

Approx. 200 new entrants per month since November

Source: Derwent World Patents Index™; generic Blockchain, Distributed Ledger search string

WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN BEING USED FOR?• Killer application is Financial Technology –

using traditional currencies for payments and transactions

• Cryptocurrencies is now a subset of fintech

• Other mentioned uses of blockchain technology:

• Contract management• Gaming – likely an offshoot of mobile

payment tech• Social networking – e.g. privacy issues• Healthcare – for example prescription

management; currently a small field

• Much (most?) of blockchain not specific to an industry or use

Fintech

Contracts

Mobile Gaming

Healthcare

Source: Derwent World Patents Index™ “Use” field; ThemeScape application

Your [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

derwent.com

blockchain – disruption or hype? · authoritative over another • “hacking” the blockchain...

Documents