Understanding the Diffusion of the Blockchain Technology: A Patent-based Analysis using the tf-lag-idf for Term Novelty Evaluation

Blockchain technology seems to be an important driver in several application fields. It is already being used in the financial industry (where it has led to "Bitcoins" and other electronic currencies), but may also influence the logistics industry (as e.g. enabling unique identifier for components), the service industry (as a replacement for personal identifiers), and others. It is based on the replication of information at several distributed locations. To obtain a better understanding of how blockchain technology has diffused and will continue to diffuse, we carry out a patent analysis. In particular, after compiling a patent set concerning this technology, we classify the respective patents by means of a keyword list. This method helps us identify claims, which deal with business processes (in contrast to manufacturing processes). We extract novel concepts from these claims over the course of time on the basis of informetric measures (tf-lag-idf). The analysis reveals a sequence of broad application fields of blockchain technology, however, only few industry-specific ones. This indicates that managers should evaluate the hype, which presently surrounds block chain technology with great caution. So far, the expectations and potentials discussed in the current literature and media are hardly reflected by patent data. However, the strong increase over recent years should inspire managers from application fields that are not yet at the center of patenting activity to develop related inventions and apply for patents quickly.