Blockchain and IoT-based architecture design for intellectual property protection

Purpose – The blockchain technology provides a way to record transactions that is designed to be highly secure, transparent, trustable, traceable, auditable and tamper-proof. And, the internet of things (IoT) technology provides the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, which is able to link computing devices and digitized machines, things, objects, animals and people that are provided with digital unique identifiers (UIDs). This paper aims to explore the combined application of blockchain and IoT-based technologies, especially on the intellectual property protection area. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the authors propose a high-level architecture design of blockchain and IoT-based intellectual property protection system, which can help to process three types of intellectual property: (1) patents, copyrights, trademarks etc.; (2) industrial design, trade dress, craft works, trade secrets etc.; and (3) plant variety rights, geographical indications, etc. Findings – Using blockchain peer-to-peer network and IoT devices, the proposed method can help people to establish a trusted, self-organized, open and ecological intellectual property protection system. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first work that applied blockchain and IoT technologies on traditional intellectual property protection and trade ecosystem.