It is important to remember that only novel Blockchain ideas can be patented so, even if Blockchain technology is being used in an application/industry for the first time, unless it offers something unique or solves some tangible technical challenge, it is unlikely that a patent will be granted. As the World Intellectual Property Organisation has highlighted (due to the US court case Alice Corp v CLS Banking International - ‘Alice’) "software patents litigation has changed dramatically", since a claimed invention must be more than an abstract idea. A US judge testified before congress that, “the application of Alice has been excessively incoherent, inconsistent and chaotic”. Nevertheless, despite this, as of May 2020 there have already been 3,924 Blockchain patents filed of which 1,257 have been granted. Therefore, it is thought that the authorised Blockchain patents in 2020 will undoubtedly exceed the 1,799 granted in 2019.

Total number of blockchain patent applications filed globally as of April 2020, by leading company

Source: Statitica.com

In China, as reported by Forkast Insights, there were over 10,000 patents filed although only a handful have been granted. Up to April 2020, out of the 20 companies that filed the most Blockchain patent applications 13 were Chinese. It could be argued that, rather than having a Blockchain patent race, it would be better to follow the lead from the mobile phone industry and develop a range of global standards. This could have several advantages, such as:

• greater adoption - better clarity together with the ability to follow a standard encourages engagement as it reduces the risk of having to speculate when selecting one provider’s solution;  

• interoperability and compatibility - this enables one to move more easily between different Blockchains;

• better technology - sharing ideas and gaining multiple inputs ought to produce better results rather than relying on one organisation.

Notably, there are a number of organisations trying to develop standards such as the International Standards Organisation, the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Blockchain in Transportation Alliance. There have also been examples in specific sectors where traditional arch-rivals and competitors are merging to solve common challenges within their industry in a far more collaborative manner. Examples of this include:

Tradelens - international shipping; Vakt - petrochemical industry; Aura - luxury brands.

However, there are fears we could see a situation where one country owns the patent on a Blockchain application and denies its use in another jurisdiction, as a form of trade sanction. This fear was raised recently in an article in a leading Indian newspaper with reference to China’s own huge investment in Blockchain technology. Although this concern has given interest to Blockchain technology and its potential ability to impact on many aspects of commerce, governments and society, is it such a good idea that a handful of organisations could own the patents on a technology with the potential to have such wide-reaching applications? If, however, there were to be a set of global Blockchain standards (and companies/nations could work collaboratively) then this could overcome these fears thus limiting the need and use for patents.

A list of some of the Blockchain-based agricultural systems and their implementation platforms

Source: Victoria Wang

The drive for digitisation on farms has encouraged a number of companies (see above for examples) to offer services to the agriculture sector helping them to digitise operations and often at the same time become more environmentally friendly in their farming techniques. The above chart gives examples of the various types of applications of how Blockchain technology is being used and that, notably, various Blockchains are being used already. Nori is an example of a US-based start-up which uses Blockchain-powered to incentivise farmers to reduce carbon and earlier this year attracted $1.3million of funding. Nori is to issue a cryptocurrency and intends to pay farmers who ‘lock up’ carbon in the soil by using sustainable farming techniques which promote the growth of microbes and bacteria in topsoil. The logic behind Nori’s cryptocurrency is that, while governments set the price for capturing carbon (sometimes referred to as carbon credits), its CEO, Paul Gambill, believes that “if we want people to do something that is going to pull carbon out of the air, the simplest way to get them to do it is to pay them”. One of the first farmers in the US to use Nori is Terry Hill, from Maryland, who received $115,000 to capture and store 8,000 tons of carbon in his farm’s topsoil and who now could potentially earn up to $150,000 a year demonstrating how Nori is able to offer an additional income for those farmers its company works with. 

Meanwhile, the agriculture sector is fast becoming digitised, driven by government legislation and customer demand in order to be able to track and trace the provenance of the food we consume. Blockchain technology, with its ability to offer greater transparency and therefore trust in what can sometimes be complex supply chains spanning across different continents, is a great tool to help farmers assure their consumers. As is often the case, Blockchain technology is even more effective when it is used in conjunction with other technologies such as AI, IoT, QR codes, RFID tags, etc. Although it is still early days as governments, processors of foods, farmers, retailers and consumers gain access to more structured data which, in turn, can be interrogated and used by each of these parties for their specific needs, we will no doubt discover additional new ways in which digitisation can help the agriculture industry.