This survey is targeted at two ecosystem and their overlap as illustrated in Figure 1 below. The
survey actors from the traditional IP ecosystem, the blockchain industry and the intersection of
the two

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) in general, and blockchain technology as its best-known
form, have experienced a surge in interest and applications over the past years. Most people associate the technology with Bitcoin, the most widely known cryptocurrency. However, the potential benefits from blockchain solutions go far beyond cryptocurrencies as they can potentially increase efficiency, transparency, and security in many industries.
The intellectual property (IP) intensive industry can benefit from blockchain technology. This
industry creates IP which can be defined as intangible assets that are owned by individuals, organizations, or companies. Such intangible assets include different asset classes which are protected under different rights. Commonly known classes are:
▪ inventions that can be protected through registered patents,
▪ creative work like music, films, books, art works and under certain conditions also databases, which are protected by copyrights,
▪ symbols, logos, brand names, etc. that can be registered as trademarks, and
▪ shapes and forms i.e. the exterior of an object that can be registered as designs. See
https://www.ige.ch/en/intellectual-property for more information on IP and IP right.

In the generation, protection, management and commercialization of IP, many actors are involved
in collaborative and competitive ways. Players in this IP ecosystem have broad backgrounds (artistic, technical, legal, economic, etc.) and take different roles. While some generate an IP asset
(e.g., R&D departments), others determine a way to protect it (e.g., patent attorneys) and others
work in the management and commercialization of this IP asset (e.g., portfolio managers licensing patent rights). Note, that this presents only one example of an IP value chain

Several processes in IP value chains can potentially benefit from blockchain technology by making processes at different stages more secure, efficient, and transparent. More specifically, to give
an example, blockchain technology can tackle challenges of actors in IP by facilitating the proof
of ownership and by offering anti-counterfeiting solutions. These potential applications of blockchain technology for IP – of which some are already existing – are the topic of this study. We
further refer to these applications of blockchain for IP as use cases.
Figure 2 shows the use cases of blockchain for IP along the phases of the IP value chain which the
World Intellectual Property Organization described in their whitepaper on blockchain for IP (see
https://www.wipo.int/cws/en/blockchain-and-ip.html)