5 December 2018
The EPO has held its first major conference on patenting blockchain. Attended by over 300 participants, the one-day event in The Hague yesterday explored the implications of blockchain for patent applicants and other stakeholders as the technology is applied to an ever-increasing variety of technical fields.
EPO`s first-ever blockchain conference, held at its site in The Hague on 4 December 2018
In his welcome address EPO President António
Campinos emphasised that "technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are
gaining ever more momentum - and everyone in IP has to get to grips with
technical developments that are driving this period of great change - and to
understand their impact." Noting that patent applications for blockchain are
rising fast, he underlined that such patents are nonetheless examined by the
EPO in accordance with stable criteria developed on the basis of case law
related to computer implemented inventions: "Our examination guidelines are
constantly reviewed and adapted to ensure these criteria are transparent and
that our practice remains predictable, both to examiners and external
stakeholders."
The first keynote speakers covered the blockchain basics, setting out the main principles, key players and areas of use for this new technology, and the first panel discussed the future impact of this now rapidly developing field and its links to other unfolding digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
Koen Lievens of the EPO and Wang Xinyi of CNIPA present the offices’ approaches to dealing with blockchain patent applications. 
At the close of the conference the EPO's Vice-President of Operations Alberto Casado highlighted the potential of blockchain for innovation in an almost unlimited number of uses, saying that "we are at the beginning of a revolution. Blockchain started in the financial sector - but its spreading to all fields of industrial applications. It is growing in all fields".
