The results of the research by the Federal Institute of Industrial Property, a global supplier of patent analytics, illustrate an increasing tendency towards applying blockchain technologies to a growing number of industry sectors. The fact that blockchain solutions are patented by acclaimed industry leaders such as VISA and MASTERCARD evidences the maturity of blockchain technologies and the increasing tendency towards using them for applied purposes. It’s evident that the technology has a high potential for further growth and penetration into more economy sectors and areas of application. The report also analyses separate characteristic segments within the technology, such as distributed ledgers, smart contracts, mining, consensus algorithm, and cryptocurrencies.

China and the USA rank first by the number of patent publications, with a much greater activity than in other countries. Market leaders are carrying out large-scale and costly projects on patenting a wide range of blockchain technologies; the fact that normative and regulatory framework is still in the process of formation is not a deterrent for further development of blockchain technology and creating new concepts of its use.

Industries related to extraction, processing, and transportation of fuel and energy resources and to producing and distributing electricity hold a traditionally important place in Russia’s economy. The experts from FIPS and the Blockchain Competence Center of VEB highlight a considerable potential for developing blockchain technologies in these industries due to the currently small number of patent families in these sectors (with Russia lagging behind other countries) and the large scale of the sectors themselves.

According to the authors, this patent landscape report will give ample insights for Russian companies engaged in or planning research and development in the promising and commercially attractive, though technically complicated, area of blockchain technologies.