Hundreds of patent applications that mention blockchain as at least part of the disclosed solution are filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) each year. The publicly available data associated with these patent applications is helpful for assessing the likelihood of obtaining a patent for a blockchain-based invention.
Recent data indicates that 3% of the published patent applications that include at least one reference to blockchain in the claims have so far been refused by the EPO. On the other hand, 23% of the published patent applications have already been granted by the EPO. These statistics are subject to change since the examination procedure is yet to be concluded for the remaining patent applications. Further, the outcome of any oppositions and appeals may further influence the statistics.
However, in general, the EPO is positive on patenting blockchain-based inventions given the sizeable number of patents that have already been granted in this field.
We can delve further into the data to assess the likelihood of a patent being granted for different types of blockchain innovations.
Each patent application is assigned at least one International Patent Classification (IPC) code to indicate the specific classification of the technology described in the patent application. Using IPC data, we can identify whether a particular type of blockchain innovation is more likely to be granted or refused by the EPO.
Of the blockchain-related patent applications that have been refused by the EPO, the most common classifications are:
- Payment architectures, schemes or protocols, particularly involving:
- private payment circuits for electronic currency used only among participants of a common payment scheme;
- authorisation, e.g., identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials;
- review and approval of payers, e.g. check of credit lines or negative lists; and
- using electronic wallets or electronic money safes.
- Administration and management such as logistics and inventory management.
- Commerce such as transactions, marketing and price estimation or determination.
- Finance activities such as trading and banking.
- Systems for specific business sectors such as electricity, gas or water supply.
Of the blockchain-related patent applications that have been granted by the EPO, the most common classifications are:
- Network security protocols.
- Security arrangements; authentication; and protecting privacy or anonymity.
- Arrangements for secret or secure communications, particularly involving:
- means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of a system; and
- key distribution and encryption.
- Security arrangements for protecting data against unauthorised activity, particularly involving:
- protecting data integrity, e.g., using checksums, certificates or signatures; and
- protecting access to data via a platform, e.g., using keys or access control rules.
- Payment architectures, schemes or protocols, particularly involving:
- a certification authority;
- private payment circuits for electronic currency used only among participants of a common payment scheme; and
- payment authorisation.
Although there is not a distinct line between classes associated with patent applications that have been granted and those that have been refused, some clear trends can be identified from the data:
- Blockchain-related patent applications associated with business activities such as logistics, pricing and trading are more likely to be refused.
- Blockchain-related patent applications associated with security mechanisms for providing improved security, user verification, data integrity and privacy are more likely to be granted.
The EPO’s approach to software-based inventions is well established and predictable. It is therefore possible to predict how likely it is that the EPO will find a software-based invention (if it is indeed new) to be inventive (and therefore worthy of being patented) based on the nature of the software-based invention. In particular, the software-based invention must solve a “technical” problem.
As highlighted by the recent data and consistent with the EPO’s approach to software-based inventions, blockchain-based inventions that relate to security mechanisms are more likely to be patentable than inventions that relate to business activities.
Therefore, considering whether a blockchain innovation belongs to a classification that is more likely to be associated with a positive outcome at the EPO may help to inform a decision regarding how best to allocate budget and other resources to obtaining legal protection for the innovation.
This is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Should you require advice on patenting inventions relating to cyber security, including blockchain concepts, or any other topic then please contact Dr Andrew Rudhall arudhall@hlk-ip.com or your usual HLK advisor.
