Summary:

The creation of bitcoin introduced the blockchain technology more than a decade ago. In the early days when the blockchain technology was just made known to the world, there was a plethora of potential applications proposed by blockchain enthusiasts. Fourteen years on, we look at how the blockchain has expanded its applications through the contents of patent applications. The highlights are as follows.

Highlights:

• Blockchain technology has broadened its applications outside of electrical engineering. The total number of patent families outside the electronic engineering fields has more than tripled in the past decade.
• Control, medical technology, and transport are the most important applications of blockchain technology.
• Blockchain is useful in the medical industry due to its high accessibility and the security of storing sensitive data.

Article By XIE, Taojun

Graphic By GE, Yixuan