Blockchain international patent TOP 20: 5 Chinese companies including Ali, Huawei entered the list

Source: Zero One Finance

Author: Ren Wansheng

According to the "Global Blockchain Patent Report" released by the One One Think Tank, China ranks first in the world with 12,909 blockchain patent applications, accounting for 53.6% of the total number of global blockchain patent applications; in terms of quantity, China leads the way The number of patent applications in developed countries such as Europe and the United States is twice that of the United States, 11 times that of South Korea, and 23 times that of Australia.

From the perspective of blockchain international patents, there is still a gap between China and the United States. As of October 2019, China has only applied for 532 blockchain international patents, ranking second in the world; the United States has applied for 1,537, ranking first in the world, more than 1,000 in China.

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According to the scope of patent area, patents can be divided into domestic patents and international patents. From the perspective of patent quality, international patents are more exclusive, creative and practical. Shan Xiaoguang, dean of the Shanghai International Intellectual Property Institute, believes that the number of international patent applications can reflect the innovation ability, market coverage and core competitiveness of enterprises, and is an important way for enterprises to carry out global patent layout.

1. The number of international patent applications for China's blockchain is 532, accounting for 15.6% of the global total.

The "Global Blockchain Patent Report" shows that as of the end of October 2019, the total number of global blockchain patent applications was 24,074, covering 35 countries and regions, and more than 6,500 patent applicants; among them, there were 3,421 international patents, covering 1,474 applicants from 28 countries and regions.

From a national perspective, the three countries that have obtained the most international patents on the blockchain are the United States, China, and South Korea, with 1,537, 532, and 154 patents respectively. Although the United States is not as good as China in the number of applications for blockchain patents (including international patents), it has more than 1,005 international patents in China.

Figure 1: Blockchain PCT International Patent Applications (Unit: Pieces)

Source: Zero One Think Tank, WIPO Statistical Database

Compared with domestic patents, international patents have more core competitiveness, and their patents require novelty, creativity, and practicality in many countries. From the perspective of its legal effect, the scope of application of international patents is broader and the protection is more comprehensive.

1. China later took the lead, and the total number of blockchain patent applications exceeded the United States by nearly 50%

In 2009, both China and the United States have data on blockchain-related patent applications. On the whole, in the two countries from 2009 to 2015, blockchain patents were in a slow growth stage, and the number of new patents each year remained within 50. At this stage, the United States prevailed, and the number of patents applied each year was China's. 2 times more.

Since 2016, the number of patent applications in both countries is growing rapidly, and the gap between China and the United States is also narrowing. In 2018, China surpassed the United States for the first time, with nearly 4,000 more patent applications than the United States .

Figure 2: Growth in the number of China-US blockchain patent applications from 2009 to October 2019

Source: Zero One Think Tank, WIPO Statistical Database

As of October 2019, the total number of patent applications for blockchain in China has reached 12,909, which is nearly 33.7% more than last year. The total number of US blockchain patent applications is 6,679, an increase of 19.2% over last year.

2.China-US blockchain international patents differ by more than 1,000

Although China has an absolute advantage in the total number of blockchain patent applications, international patents are seriously behind the United States. As of October 2019, China has applied for 532 international blockchain patents, a difference of 1,005 in the United States.

Figure 3: Growth of China-US PCT Blockchain International Patents

Source: Zero One Think Tank, WIPO Statistical Database

China first applied for a block chain international patent for the first time in 2012, and the United States in 2009, three years later than the United States.

Since 2017, China has begun to apply for international patents on a large scale. In terms of quantity, the gap between the United States and the United States has been continuously reduced, from 2.57 times to 1.89 times.

3.The size of U.S. patent applicants is 7 times that of China

From the perspective of blockchain international patent applicants, there are 721 companies in the United States participating in applying for blockchain international patents, and 102 in China, which are about 6 times the size. On the whole, companies applying for blockchain international patents are mainly companies, followed by natural persons and universities.

Table 1: Chinese and American Blockchain PCT International Patent Applicant Attributes

Source: Zero One Think Tank, WIPO Statistical Database

Among them, there are 85 and 553 companies in China and the United States participating in applying for blockchain international patents, a difference of 5.5 times. For companies with more than 10 patent applications, there are 8 companies in China and 13 companies in China and the number is only 0.6 times. The number of international patent applications for 8 companies in China is 330. For 13 companies in the US, international patent applications are always The 476 pieces.

Table 2: Scope of PCT International Patent Applications for Chinese and American Enterprises' Blockchain

Source: Zero One Think Tank, WIPO Statistical Database

It can be seen that the number of companies that have applied for more than 10 international patents on the blockchain is only 5 more than that of China; and the number of companies that have applied for 1 to 5 patents is 6.5 times that of China.

Blockchain international patent TOP20

As of October 2019, a total of 1,476 applicants worldwide have participated in blockchain international patent applications. According to the number of applications, 20 companies with the largest number of patent applications have been selected. The top three companies are Alibaba in China, nChain in South Korea, and Wal-Mart in the United States.

Table 3: Ranking of TOP20 Blockchain PCT International Patent Applications

Data source: Zero One Think Tank

In this list, five Chinese companies are on the list, namely Alibaba, Huawei, Tatsun Technology, Ping An Yi Tie Tong and Tencent. There are seven companies in the United States, including Wal-Mart, Visa, MasterCard, Intel, Microsoft, IBN and American Express.

Judging from the ranking, Alibaba is more competitive in the global blockchain technology patent field, ranking first in the world with 222 patents, 47% more than the second place nChain.

Atlas and distribution of international patents of China's blockchain

70% of China's blockchain international patents are related to infrastructure and underlying technologies. According to the map of the blockchain industry chain, blockchain patents can be divided into two categories, industry application layer, infrastructure and bottom technology layer.

Figure 4: Atlas of China's blockchain and distribution of international patents

Data source: Zero One Think Tank

Note: The statistical date is as of November 1, 2019

Among them, more than 70% of blockchain international patents are related to the infrastructure and underlying technologies. Among them, data / information services, transaction processing methods, and smart contracts are the three technologies with the largest number of patents, respectively 125, 34, and 28. Pieces.

At the industry application level, finance, digital assets, and blockchain law are the three industries with the most patent distributions, with 28, 18, and 12 respectively.

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