nChain, the global leader in research and development of blockchain technologies, is pleased to announce issuance of its first patent by the European Patent Office. This first issued patent, granted by the EPO on April 11, 2018, is for a registry and automated management method for blockchain-enforced smart contracts. ---
The patent - European Patent Office number EP3257191 - is entitled "A method and system for securing computer software using a distributed hash table and a blockchain". The invention covers a technique that will work for any content that has an executable phase (which is not limited to computer software, but can incorporate music, video and even PDF files) to check, via a blockchain lookup that the accessing resource both has acquired a license for the content, and more importantly that the license remains valid. The invention can be deployed by content producers and rightsholders to more efficiently perform digital rights management, especially for auto-renewing contracts common to digital subscription services, using smart contracts on the blockchain.
