Blockchain Patents In The U.S. Skyrocket In 2020: Study

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 9/23/2020 10:36 AM ET

Blockchain patents are skyrocketing in the U.S., with more blockchain-related patents being published in the first half of 2020 than in the whole of 2019, a year that had already seen more than three times the blockchain patents published in 2018, according to a new study published by IP consulting company KISSPatent.

The study also reveals that blockchain-only companies are keeping their distance from filing for patents as very few are filing. Curiously enough, it is mostly large companies like the Fortune 500 that are dominating the patent world with their blockchain-related applications.

Blockchain is an important foundation technology for decentralized, trustless interactions. It is the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It is also used for all kinds of applications like finance, insurance, healthcare, logistics and many more.

Not surprisingly, the most popular category turns out to be fintech applications, being about half of all blockchain patent applications. These include applications using cryptocurrencies, or supporting storage or exchange of cryptocurrencies, or supporting other financial transactions over blockchain.

The second most popular category was decentralized business platforms and solutions deployed over blockchain, at a little more than 10 percent of all blockchain patent applications.

Other popular categories for blockchain patents include business services with a financial component, healthcare, traditional banking services and general business services that are grafted onto blockchain.

Fintech companies and traditional banks actually apply blockchain technology in different ways, to support their different business models.

According to the study, the U.S. is the number one country with 2112 blockchain patents. The Cayman Islands is surprisingly the second country with 350 blockchain patent filings as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's subsidiary that owns all of its blockchain patents/applications is located there.

They are followed by Canada with 118, Japan with 108, South Korea with 87 and China with 77 blockchain patent applications.

Alibaba and IBM are the top two US blockchain patent application publishers. Alibaba has published nearly 10 times more blockchain patents in the US than nearest rival IBM in 2020.

However, IBM currently owns the most blockchain patent applications, but Alibaba is catching up fast and should overtake IBM this year. Bank of America, Mastercard, nChain and Walmart are the other significant blockchain patent players.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

UAE Implements Country-wide, Blockchain-based Ecosystem For Data Sharing

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 7/31/2020 10:28 AM ET

The United Arab Emirates has partnered Swedish blockchain KYC technology firm Norbloc AB to become one of the first countries in the world to implement a country-wide, blockchain based ecosystem for data sharing. Dubai Economy and banking group Emirates NBD announced the go-live of the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform.

The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform is an initiative which facilitates secure digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functionality and sharing of verified KYC (Know-Your-Customer) data between licensing authorities and financial institutions via advanced distributed blockchain technology.

Companies can now choose to share their data, in real time, with the financial institutions of their choice, thus significantly reducing time and cost.

The initiative, which was first announced in February 2020, establishes a UAE-wide ecosystem for exchange of verified KYC data and instant digital onboarding of companies by financial institutions. The project is fully supported by Smart Dubai and the Central Bank of UAE who play a key regulatory role in the initiative.

Apart from Dubai Economy and Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai, ADCB, HSBC, and RAKBANK are also set to go live very soon. More than 120 companies are already instantly onboarded by Emirates NBD with active and operational bank accounts.

This initiative is part of the Agenda Number One of Dubai Model which focuses on improving customer experience. It also aligns with the UAE government's vision around digitization and paperless as crucial strategies that enable continuation and sustainability.

Emirates NBD is the first banking group to go live on the platform with its initial use case covering E20, its digital business bank. This will enable SME customers to open accounts instantly through the E20 Digital Business Bank app.

Meanwhile, Dubai Economy has also migrated all active trade licenses onto the blockchain platform, representing over 40 percent of all active trade licenses in the UAE.

All participating financial institutions can leverage the blockchain platform to seamlessly pull data of their customers and receive real time updates made to customer data.

The launch of KYC Blockchain Platform, along with the Unified Business Registry (UBR) in Dubai, shows the blockchain ecosystem growing to build a seamlessly integrated paperless government framework.

Dubai Economy, leading financial institutions such as Emirates NBD, Dubai Government, and the UAE Government are currently taking significant measures towards creating a digital low touch economy with simplified processes ensuring that business can continue to thrive in the post-COVID environment.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Tag Archives: ecosystem

Blockchain Patents In The US Skyrocket In 2020: Study

Blockchain Patents In The U.S. Skyrocket In 2020: Study

UAE Implements Country-wide Blockchain-based Ecosystem For Data Sharing

UAE Implements Country-wide, Blockchain-based Ecosystem For Data Sharing