In recent years, the domestic blockchain technology has developed very rapidly, and various blockchain applications have continued to land. Whether it is a giant in the traditional industry or a new blockchain enterprise, they are all involved. For the development of technology industries, patent applications have always been a relatively important dimension of investigation.
After entering 2020, the number of domestic blockchain-related patent applications has dropped compared to 2019, mainly due to the epidemic, which will have a certain impact on related technology research and development and application requirements.
The number of domestic patent applications is the lowest in the past three years
The total number of patents granted is less than 3000
Affected by the epidemic, the number of blockchain patent applications this year has declined, and so far is 7,047, the lowest in the past three years. However, as the epidemic is under control, the negative impact will gradually decrease. It is expected that next year, the number of blockchain patent applications will reach a new high.
Compared with the number of patent applications, the number of publications and authorizations has maintained a continuous growth every year, mainly because the overall process of patent applications requires a long period of review.
At the same time, we also see that blockchain patents have actually passed various audits, and the number of final authorizations is not high. At present, the total number of domestic blockchain patents is still less than 3,000. For a technology industry, this number is still far Not enough, it still needs long-term accumulation.
Ali, Tencent, and Ping An form the first camp
Accounted for 27% of the total number of applications for the year
The development time of the domestic blockchain industry is still short. The main technical force still comes from the traditional giants entering the blockchain industry, mainly domestic Internet and financial industry giants, because of their strong basic capabilities and strong technological development. The internal use requirements and sufficient capital support.
The Ping An Department has applied for more than 1,100 applications in a single year, ranking third in the total number of applications
According to statistics of all domestic blockchain patent applications, Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. has the highest number of applications among single applicants, exceeding 1,300. However, Tencent, Alibaba, and Ping An are all group systems composed of multiple application subjects. If statistics are combined, the total number of patent applications of Alibaba is over 1,600, ranking first in China. The total number of Tencent is slightly more than 1,500, and the total of Ping An is nearly 1,500.
The difference in the total number of patent applications between the three major departments is not obvious, but in 2020 data, the number of applications for the Ping An Department is about 1.5 times that of the sum of Ali and Tencent.
In 2020, among the top ten single applicant applications, Alipay has the largest number of applications with 364, Ping An Technology ranked second with 355, and Tencent Technology ranked third with 346.
From the perspective of integrating the number of applications from all applicants in the three major systems, the Ping An Department has obvious advantages. The total number of applications exceeds 1,100, ranking first. There are more than 400 applications from the Ali department and more than 300 from the Tencent department, ranking second and third in the 2020 single year.
Invention patent types become mainstream, accounting for over 97%
In 2020, of more than 7,000 patent applications, 97% of the patent applications are invention patents, another 1.96% are utility model patents, and 0.45% are appearance patents. Compared with 2019, the proportion of invention patents has increased, and the proportion of the other two patent types has dropped to the lowest level in three years.
Among the 1931 patents granted this year, 1,504 were invention patents, 335 were utility model patents, and 92 were appearance patents.
Patent applications by technology giants continue to increase, accounting for about 27%
The operating history of enterprises in traditional industries is much longer than that of blockchain enterprises. Through years of accumulation, both in terms of technical development capabilities and financial support, they have obvious advantages. For technology-based industries, the advantages in technology research and development are very great. important.
In 2020, more than 70 of the top 100 applicants for patent applications are enterprises in traditional industries, of which 9 are traditional enterprises in the top 10, and 16 of the top 20 are traditional enterprises.
The advantages of the leading companies in the short term cannot be wiped out, and this advantage will continue to be maintained. The number of patent applications filed by the three traditional companies this year accounted for about 27% of all patent applications, an increase of about 3.5 percentage points from last year.
Leading companies are more resistant to risks such as the epidemic, and can maintain continuous investment every year, making leading companies have hundreds or even thousands of patent applications each year, while blockchain companies continue to file patent applications and patent applications in a single year Sexual disadvantages will make the gap between blockchain companies wider and wider.
Among the 1931 patents granted this year, 1,504 were invention patents, 335 were utility model patents, and 92 were appearance patents.
The regional effect of giant companies is obvious, with Beishenhang accounting for nearly 90%
According to statistics on blockchain patent applicants (over 20 applications per year) in 2020, Beijing has many companies living in Beijing due to urban positioning and other factors, and the proportion of applicants has decreased compared with last year.
Hangzhou and Shenzhen continue to maintain a relatively high proportion of applicants due to factors such as policy opening, support and traditional giants. This year, Shenzhen surpassed Hangzhou for the first time by a slight advantage, ranking second. The three major cities of Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou accounted for 89% of the total, showing a trend of concentration of domestic blockchain development areas.
Domestic blockchain technology research is still at an early stage
Among the more than 7,000 patent applications this year, the number belonging to the G06F electrical digital data processing sub-category is the largest, with 2,624 items; the G06Q sub-category belonging to data processing systems or methods is the second with 1993 items; it belongs to the digital information output H04L category The number is 1269 items.
The remaining sub-categories such as G06K data identification, data representation, G16H healthcare informatics are relatively small, none exceeding 300 items.
The sub-categories of the three basic technology types account for approximately 83.5% of the total. Due to the epidemic this year, some companies have explored the medical application of blockchain technology, but the total number of related patent applications is only 168, accounting for approximately 2.38 %.
The number of patent applications for other application landing projects is even smaller. On the whole, the main work of domestic blockchain technology research is still in the early stage of basic technology research and architecture construction.
Analysis of patent applications of leading blockchain patent companies
Alipay focuses on technology research and development in financial fields such as payment
Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. has the largest number of blockchain patent applications this year, with a total of 364 applications, distributed in the G06F16 group of basic technologies, 63 applications in the G06Q20 payment architecture and program agreement group, and G06F21 protects computer programs and data The group applied for 59 items, and the G06Q40 finance, insurance, and tax group applied for 42 items.
Half of the patent applications cover subdivisions such as payment and security in the financial sector, and do not involve other additional new businesses, indicating that Alipay focuses on the financial sector in blockchain applications.
Ping An’s multi-subjects cover medical, image recognition, and finance
Ping An Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., the second largest blockchain patent application this year, has applied for 355 patents, of which 40 are in the G16H healthcare informatics subcategory. They are mainly developed to respond to this year’s epidemic.
The rest are mainly G06F16 group, G06F40 group, and G06K9 group, all of which are used for data expression and storage. At present, the company’s blockchain has developed basic technologies, mainly for epidemic-related landing applications.
Due to the large number of Ping An applicants, different applicants focus on different fields. For example, Ping An International Smart City Technology Co., Ltd. applied for 39 patents in image recognition G06K9 category, including AI recognition, face recognition, AR interaction, etc. The company’s main business direction is more consistent; Shenzhen OneConnect Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., because its main business is in the field of financial technology, the group of patent applications is basically the same as Alipay.
Tencent focuses on live e-commerce this year
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. applied for 346 blockchain patents this year. In addition to the G06F16 group of basic technologies, they are mainly distributed in G06Q20, 30, 40 and other financial groups, including CN111260415A, CN111292176A, CN111464823A, etc. Advertising recommendation algorithms, tax collection, virtual gifts and other patents related to live broadcast e-commerce.
In addition, there are a number of patents for bill issuance, processing, verification and data processing based on blockchain technology. It shows that in addition to the blockchain bills that have been in operation for a period of time this year, Tencent also focused on the live broadcast e-commerce business.
2021 blockchain patent development outlook
This year, domestic blockchain patent applications have declined due to the epidemic, but the overall growth trend remains unchanged. It is expected that it will exceed 10,000 patent applications per year in the next three years.
In dealing with sudden risks, traditional large companies have greater advantages. Blockchain companies have a small number of patent applications in a single year and cannot maintain a stable number of applications each year. They have obvious disadvantages in research and development capabilities and financial support, and this state will be maintained for a long time.
Many entities of Ping An Department continue to make efforts in the research and development of blockchain technology, covering a wide range, and gradually catching up with Ali and Tencent. Tencent has invested more in live e-commerce.
