Blockchain and Patents

Fin(Legal)Tech Conference, November 4, 2016

Nelson M. Rosario

Intellectual Property Attorney

Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP

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Nation Building &Economic Development

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Smartphones - The Leapfrog Engine

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Patents? Blockchain?

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Blockchain Patent Landscape

• Patents filings are leading economic indicators

• Patents filings are trailing economic indicators

• Patent filings are indicative of skin in the game

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Total Patent Applications and Granted Patents

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Blockchain 0 0 1 11 38 20

Bitcoin 13 32 94 265 247 34

13 32 94 265 247 34

0

0

1

11

38

20

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Blockchain 0 0 1 4 6 0

Bitcoin 6 18 26 55 27 2

6 18 26 55 27 2

0

0

1

4

6

0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Patent Applications Granted Patents

Patent Filings by Top 5 Technology Areas

Percentage Technology Area

55%Data processing: financial, business practice,

management, or cost/price determination

10% Amusement devices: games

5% Information security

3%Electrical computers and digital processing systems:

multicomputer data transferring

2%Electrical computers and digital processing systems:

support

74% Total Percentage

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What does it all mean?

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Perceived conflict between OSS and IP protection

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The Internet Shows the Way

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1971

2016

Bitcoin is here to stay

• Only Successful Use Case of Blockchain

• Network Effects

• The Most Powerful Network on the Planet

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source: 21.co as of 11/2/16

Nelson M. Rosario

Email: nrosario@marshallip.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nelsonrosario

Twitter: @NelsonMRosario

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