Alibaba on Track to Be the Largest Blockchain Patent Holder by End of 2020: Study

Alibaba is on track to supersede U.S. computer giant IBM as the single-largest holder of blockchain-related patents, according to a new study.

• A report from intellectual property consultancy KISSPatent Thursday found the Chinese tech conglomerate was “definitely running the show,” having already published ten times more blockchain patents than IBM, its nearest rival.
• Should Alibaba continue at its current pace, the study predicted it would become the biggest patent holder in blockchain by the end of 2020.

• KISSPatent said this was part of a broader surge in the number of blockchain-related patents published. The first half of 2020 had more patents than the whole of 2019. In turn, 2019 had triple the number of blockchain patents compared to 2018.
• Another key point was that most of the patents were filed by traditional Fortune 500 companies rather than companies that exist wholly within the blockchain space.
• That might be down to blockchain’s prevailing open-source culture, which is at odds with the practice of patent filing, KISSPatent said.
• Indeed, Jack Dorsey’s Square last week set up a non-profit group for blockchain companies to pool patents and preserve the industry’s open-source spirit.
• Just in the past few months, Alibaba has patented a cross-chain system that it claims is better than Cosmos, as well as a blockchain that protects music copyright.

See also: Alibaba Patents Would Secure, Accelerate Its Consortium Blockchain

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