On August 30, 2018, Andrew MacArthur and Ralph Dengler published “How to conduct a blockchain IP audit” in World Intellectual Property Review. Here is an excerpt:
The rise of blockchain technology and its many applications, including banking and supply chain, continues to disrupt business. Blockchain provides the benefits of being immutable and decentralized, among others. It integrates distributed networks, cryptography, and consensus algorithms in potentially new and complex ways, forcing companies to reconsider how IP—patents, trade secrets, trademarks, trade dress, and copyright—should be optimized.
This is also true as each IP measure has a different duration. Without underlying IP, the commercialized blockchain product or service could have minimal value. This article provides a background on blockchain and analyses potential IP measures that could apply.