A number of patents announced by ICBC mainly involve the upgrading of terminal data, data encryption generated by document editing, security protection, etc., for example, including the Internet of things back-end and multiple terminals, packaging upgrade data, initiating transaction applications to other blockchain nodes in the blockchain network, and consensus of the upgraded data to the blockchain network, etc. The above patent applications are all in April 2020.

Coincidentally, the Bank of China has recently announced a number of blockchain related patents, such as "a blockchain based information management method and device", "a blockchain based donation processing method, device and system", "a blockchain based personal information management method and device", "a blockchain based cross-border payment method and device", etc The period is also in April 2020.

"No technology, no finance". The advantages of blockchain in banking applications are gradually showing. Thanks to the characteristics of decentralization, openness and anonymity, blockchain can play a positive role in increasing credit, reducing cost and improving efficiency of traditional banking business. A financial technology business person of a large state-owned bank said that the blockchain patent, as the external embodiment of the bank's innovation achievements in blockchain, can represent the professional level of the bank in developing blockchain technology to a certain extent. In addition, the exclusiveness of the blockchain patent can also form a unique competitiveness for banks in the practical application of blockchain technology.

Sun Yang, director of the financial science and technology research center of Suning Financial Research Institute, pointed out that blockchain patents can help banks establish "moat" of intellectual property rights and avoid being charged with patent fees. In his view, having patents means original and hard core technology, and with hard core technology, banks will have more confidence to develop related businesses.

By 2020, more banks will also start to seize the patent highland of blockchain. In April 2020, Zhejiang Commercial Bank disclosed in response to investors' questions on the interactive platform that it has one blockchain patent license and another 15 patents are under application.

On the one hand, blockchain patents can encourage the R & D innovation of underlying technologies and infrastructure, on the other hand, they can also expand application scenarios to better combine technology and business, and ultimately play a positive role in creating an innovation atmosphere and promoting industrial upgrading.

The financial technology business people of the above-mentioned large state-owned banks said frankly that the application of blockchain patent is closely related to the establishment of blockchain solutions. When a solution with specific patents can directly hit the business pain points and can be widely used in the market, it will have a reputation and can generate commercial value, which will be transformed into the revenue and profit composition of the institution.

Liu Feng, director of the Research Center for blockchain technology and application, Institute of artificial intelligence and change management, Shanghai University of international business and economics, also believes that blockchain patents have a positive impact on banks. First of all, patent is the symbol of knowledge achievement, and also represents a large amount of technology investment. It is also a reflection of technical ability for banking institutions. Secondly, the content of patent protection is easy to form technical protection barriers and strengthen the ability of attack and defense in the field of knowledge. Patents mainly help financial technology companies affiliated to banking institutions to carry out business transformation and innovation, and finally form new business flow and bring capital flow.

As the foundation of "first in" advantages in new technologies, blockchain patents are gradually becoming the core competitiveness of the industry. All major commercial banks hope to realize the intelligent upgrading of the system by integrating the blockchain technology and business.

However, it still needs to be noted that although banks have projects in the application of blockchain technology, the application scenarios of various banks have different exploration directions, and the industry application value is still not fully reflected. Mu Changchun, director of the digital currency Research Institute of the central bank, has also pointed out that the blockchain, at the cost of synchronous storage and common calculation of a large number of redundant data, has sacrificed the system processing efficiency and some privacy of customers, and is not suitable for high concurrency scenarios such as traditional retail payment.

After getting the blockchain patent, how can commercial banks actively try? Liu Feng believes that patents are the earliest stage of R & D. after the formation of patents, we can develop some related technologies and try them in business. Commercial banks need to embrace the technology actively, improve their own technological moat, build new business barriers, and create new scenario finance. Therefore, it is necessary to increase investment, both strategically and tactically.