Alibaba, IBM And MasterCard Top Globally In 2018 For Number Of Blockchain Patent Filed

Alibaba and IBM are competing for the best spot on another list that positions worldwide entities by the number of blockchain-related licenses documented to date, published on August 31 by iPR Daily.

iPR Daily — a media outlet having some expertise in intellectual property— says it merged data since August 10 from across China, the EU, America, Japan, and South Korea, also counseling the International Patent System from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

China’s Alibaba barely seals first place, having documented a sum of 90 blockchain-related patent applications, though IBM needs to date filed a total of 89.

In third place is Mastercard — with 80 filings — and then Bank of America, with 53. Fifth on the new list is China’s national bank, People’s Bank of China (PBoC), which has filed a sum of 44 patent applications committed to its project for national digital currency.

As Cointelegraph has revealed, WIPO data has already demonstrated that the most elevated number of patent filings for blockchain innovation in 2017 originated from China, which filed 225 that year as contrasted and the America’s 91 and Australia’s 13.

China’s grip on the technology is balanced an increasingly stringent position against decentralized cryptocurrencies, which has intensified yet further in recent weeks.

This split position is reflected by Alibaba’s CEO Jack Ma, who has been vocal in his endorsement of the blockchain, even while reserving suspicion for cryptocurrencies.

IBM as far as it matters for it has been consistently extending its association in blockchain across different fields, signing a five-year $740 million deal the Australian government to utilize blockchain and other new technologies to enhance data security and automation across federal departments, including defense and home affairs.