Alibaba continues to lead in number of blockchain patents, report

The race for the most number of blockchain patents is still led by the US and China, with Chinese tech giant Alibaba being rewarded with as many as 212 patents to date, revealed a new report published by China’s Patent Protection Association. 

Ever since President Xi Jinping advocated extensive use of blockchain technology across varied industries, Chinese companies are going all out in ensuring that they ride the wave of its popularity and don’t lag in the race. 

In April, a similar themed report revealed that Chinese tech companies have responded in a big way to their President’s appeal and filed for the most number of blockchain patents, as compared to anywhere in the world. Leading the race was Alibaba – the Chinese tech conglomerate who, since 2018, has set its sights high on the blockchain.

Alibaba spearheads blockchain patents race

From rolling out an Alibaba blockchain platform to help SMEs leverage the upcoming technology to acquiring a US patent for its role in tackling plagiarism in the music industry, Jack Ma’s Alibaba is spearheading the blockchain patents race and how! 

The recently-published 2020 Blockchain Global Patent Au­tho­ri­sa­tion Re­port states that Alibaba takes a comfortable lead for the company with the most number of sanctioned blockchain patents closely followed by another pro-blockchain company IBM with 136. South Korean blockchain firm, Coinplug, comes close third with 107 whereas another Chinese tech behemoth, Tencent, scores 42.

While the US firms account for 39 percent of the total 3,924 blockchain patents awarded so far, Korea 21 percent and China scores 19 percent. Moreover, the year 2020 also seems to be going strong, with 1,257 patents granted so far. This figure was close to 1800 at the end of the last year.

Foreign companies gain advantage

The report also throws light on the number of patents acquired by large corporations outside their homeland. Out of 212, 126 licenses of Alibaba have been granted by the US while 80 of IBM’s have been confirmed by China. 

The report stipulates the reason for a growing number of blockchain patents applications in the recent few months. It has to do with government subsidiaries being offered during the application process as a significant portion of the financial burden is eased off, especially for the startups. This is why the non-resident firms that constitute 69 percent of the patents filed as opposed to native firms at 26 percent have a better chance at approval.

It goes to show that China’s blockchain industry, which has been blooming in the past few months, only needed a trigger point to prosper further. This trigger point not only came in the form of the President’s endorsement but also the coronavirus crisis that has compelled businesses to reform their survival strategies.