Why Are Chinese Banks so Keen to Lodge Blockchain Patents?

Chinese banks are becoming increasingly keen on registering blockchain-related patents – and experts said they believe that financial institutions are developing core technology that will see them build new business models in the years ahead.

Per media outlet Mars Finance, state-owned commercial banking giants like the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China have “quietly announced a number of blockchain-related patents of late” in recent weeks, with blockchain-based bank terminal, data document editing, cross-border trade financing and security-related patents all lodged with the Chinese intellectual property (IP) regulator, the National Intellectual Property Administration.

The media outlet quoted a number of banking and IT experts based in the country as stating that one of the reasons why banks want to move so quickly in the R&D field is to develop their own core technology and avoid having to pay expensive IP fees further down the line – as Chinese firms have lodged hundreds of blockchain-related patents in recent years.

Mars Finance hinted that there is also an apparent backlog of blockchain patent applications, with one bank only having one application approved thus far, and another 15 still pending.

A professor at Shanghai University’s blockchain center also added that registering blockchain-related patents sends an industry-wide message to clients and competitors – proving that banks mean business when it comes to adopting new technology. The professor added that there is something of an information war raging in the banking sector now, and that developing proprietary unique blockchain-based technological infrastructure will help companies build up their defenses – or go on the offensive.

The professor claimed that banks could also seek to develop blockchain patents as a source of revenue – possibly looking to sell their IP to other financial institutions in the country.
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