Alibaba, IBM, MasterCard Top Global Blockchain Patent Rankings

investopedia.com:

While the disruptive and innovative blockchain technology continues to find increasing use across multiple business sectors, a lot of patents are being filed for developing unique, new-age blockchain-based systems and applications to get the early mover advantage. A new study conducted by IPRDaily, a leading global intellectual property (IP) technology media firm which focuses on IP services and IP industry ecosystem, ranks the global companies based on the number of patents filed, according to CoinDesk.

Among the companies leading the drive to build blockchain-based applications, Jack Ma's Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Inc. (BABA), along with its affiliate companies, ranks first, with a total of 90 patent filings that are focused on blockchain-related technologies. The leading information technology company, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), comes a close second with 89 patent applications. The third place position is held by global payments & technology company Mastercard Inc. (MA), which has 80 patent applications.

NYSE-listed investment firm Bank of America Corp. (BAC) grabs the fourth place in the coveted list with 53 blockchain patent filings, and People's Bank of China (PBoC), the Chinese central bank, holds the fifth place with 44 applications. PBoC is among the first few central banks of the world which is actively working on its own central bank digital currency. Over the last one year, PBoC's Digital Currency Lab has filed for more than 40 patent applications, as the central bank envisages harnessing the power of blockchain-based digital currency to boost its existing monetary system.

The list also includes other leading corporations in the financial and technology sectors which have