The number of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related patent applications being submitted and published in the US has nearly doubled in 2017.
Data from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, analyzed by CoinDesk, indicates that there were 390 patent applications related broadly to blockchain technology published between January and July of this year.
Overall, this represents a 90% increase compared to the same period in 2016, when 204 applications were sent to the USPTO.
With growing interests from both public and private sector, the data supports the notion blockchain is experiencing a research and development boom. The past several months have seen applications related tobitcoin mining derivatives, in-car cryptocurrency payments and blockchain-based shareholder voting, to name just a few.
The degree of growth is even more apparent when you look at the number of applications over the past five years. In 2012, just 71 related applications were filed, compared to 469 over the course of 2016.

Source: coindesk