China Accelerates Blockchain Patent Activity

In tech, innovation is everything. In innovation, intellectual property is, well, almost everything — it can be the hardware, the software, the processes that comes from the creative endeavor. You might consider patents a form of competitive advantage.

News came last week that, when it comes to patents tied to the blockchain landscape, Thomson Reuters has found that China, and Alibaba, have had an outsized showing, and seem to be accelerating their patent filing activity.

More than half, or 56 percent of all blockchain patents issued last year trace their genesis from China. That far outpaces the 22 percent that came from the United States — the runner up last year. Within the China subset, Alibaba had a notable piece of the patent pie. The company filed more than 10 percent of the worldwide volume of patents seen last year, at 43.

Blockchain remains an area of strong interest. The concept and execution of distributed ledger technologies has been one that President Xi Jinping stated can be part of “reshaping the global economic structure.”

In further efforts tied to the food industry, and on blockchain, Ripe.io, billed as an agritech startup, has grabbed $2.4 million in financing from a host of investors including Maersk Growth. Maersk Growth is the venture capital arm of shipping firm Maersk. The idea of the “blockchain for food” is one that rests on the idea that consumers can know where their food is sourced, where supply chains can be digitized.

See more of what is happening with blockchain related activity here.