Scanning global patent registries turns up dozens of active claimants filing patents on blockchain tech, including teams from major corporations. If granted, anyone who wanted to use a blockchain technology like any one successfully patented would have to pay that patent holder a license fee. And with major banking institutions looking to get in on the blockchain action, the money involved in those licenses would likely not be inconsiderable.
While proving a patent-level novel use of a technology is difficult, this has not stopped a digital gold rush from popping up around the blockchain. Banks, once threatened by the blockchain’s potential to do away with swathes of their business have instead started looking for ways to control the tech, making enormous investments in blockchain application development.
Source: The mad rush to own the rights to the blockchain | Fusion