Chinese E-Commerce platform JD.Com has applied for more than 200 blockchain patents, as per the report shared by the Securities Daily News on May 20.
The report also mentioned that the leading E-Commerce rivalry Alibaba has applied for over 262 blockchain patents, while Chinese Internet firms Tencent and Baidu has applied for over 80 and 50 blockchain patents respectively. The news was reported by the Intellectual Property Center of China Information and Communication.
Based on the data offered by the Intellectual Property Center of China Information and Communication, JD.com was being positioned at first place for "global blockchain patent strength" including Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu being positioned at second, seventh and fifteenth place respectively. The report also mentions that China is the global forerunner in case of blockchain applications.
Between 2013 to 2018, China has filed about 4,435 blockchain patent applications, which results in 48% of the total blockchain patent filings as per the “Blockchain Patent Situation White Paper (Version 1.0)” disclosed by the Official website of China Telecom.
The runner-up in the global blockchain patent filings was the United States, which allegedly filled for 1,833 blockchain patents in total, which covers up to 21% of the global crypto patent space.
Securities Daily later separated the patent filings by industry, firms accounted for 75% of applications, which is more than the quantity filed by research institutions, individuals, and government agencies by a vast number. Talking about this 75%, most of the firms which filed patent were mainly internet-based.
Later, The Intellectual Property Center of China Information and Communication states that intellectual property violations have been a problem in the past for Chinese blockchain patents, and finally advises:
“It is recommended that the government do a good job in industry supervision and supervision and patent quality improvement. Enterprises should raise awareness of intellectual property protection and risk prevention, avoid blind investment in the blockchain field, apply for low-value patents, and avoid future blockchains. There have been a large number of infringement lawsuits in the field.”
Earlier, JD.com has launched a blockchain-as-a-service(Baas) platform which is also known as JD Blockchain Open Platform in 2018. This enables organizations to streamline Blockchain creation and run smart contracts. JD.com has also supported to develop institutes for blockchain research like smart city research institute and blockchain research lab.