Blockchain

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With the advent of blockchain technology, vendors are increasingly accepting payments of goods, including artwork, with digital currency. The decentralized nature of digital currency makes it attractive for a lot of reasons, but it also makes legal oversight a challenge. Add to that the emerging (or already emerged) high-value market for digital art. For example, Beeple’s Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) collection sold for more than $69 million at an auction, and a CryptoPunk NFT sold for $23 million.
Continue Reading Money Laundering and High-Value Art: Treasury’s Study Discusses Financial Crimes and NFTs

On February 10, 2022, the first NFT-based property was bought through an auction on Propy, a blockchain-focused real estate company. The Florida home was sold for $653,163 worth of Ether, and the home’s property rights were minted as an NFT on the blockchain as a digital representation of ownership over the physical real estate. (See our previous blogs about NFTs here and here). This is significant for many reasons and has the potential to significantly disrupt the way that the real estate industry has historically functioned. As mentioned below, while other real estate transactions have already occurred utilizing blockchain technology, this is the first US transaction where the ownership of the real estate asset was minted as an NFT and then sold on the blockchain.
Continue Reading Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Real Estate Industry

It is called the Cowboy state for a reason. With varied terrain and a hearty population Wyoming has long been a haven for independent thinkers and doers – pioneers.  The Wyoming legislature recently underscored that truth with the first state law addressing governance issues for decentralized autonomous organizations or “DAO(s).”  We are not talking self-driving vehicles here.  Those will not work on Teton mountain road switch backs.  This is all about future vision of decentralized digital finance.  A new gold rush for the west for those states who embrace it and Wyoming is doing just that.  This March it passed senate bill SF0038 which provides for additional protections similar to those offered to members of limited liability companies for members of a DAO.[1]
Continue Reading Wyoming Takes the Lead With Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

The Situation

Smart contracts are often mentioned in blockchain-themed patent applications and recited in claims. However, Examiners without a thorough understanding of this concept or unfamiliar with blockchain technology often equate smart contracts with legal or commercial contracts stored on blockchains. As a result, the Examiners may find claims directed to merely applying the blockchain technology to execute legal or commercial contracts, for example, as part of a commerce system, like hedging. See, e.g., Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S.Ct. at 2356 (citing Bilski v. Kappas, 561, U.S. 593, 611 (2010)).Continue Reading Distinguish “Smart Contract” From Abstract Idea To Pass Blockchain Patentability Scrutiny

Blockchain patent applications may be divided into two types: underlying technologies of blockchain, such as consensus methods, security, etc., and applications of blockchain in, e.g., fintech, legal, and other industries. In patent examination, the first type, because it recites underlying technology improvement, rarely elicits subject matter rejections. The second type, applications of blockchain, are often found to be directed to an abstract idea. This article analyzes a recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision in a blockchain patent application and explores drafting and prosecution strategies to anticipate subject matter scrutiny.
Continue Reading Blockchain Patentability Through The Lens Of A Recent PTAB Decision

Key Takeaways

  1. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provides for financial and digital trade regulations that harmonize the treatment of fintech companies.
  2. North American companies leveraging digital assets for payments should consider strategic regional opportunities available under the new USMCA fintech Framework.
  3. The USMCA Parties (member countries) continue to license fintech companies using cryptocurrency and create regulatory sandboxes to incentivize experimentation with the new technology under relaxed regulatory conditions.

Continue Reading The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – Paving the Way for a Cross-Border Fintech Sandbox

A recent report indicates the use of blockchain technology in the energy sector is continuing to grow. According to the report, the global market for this use of blockchain technology is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 52.9% during the forecast period 2018-2026. One of the big drivers of this growth is that some of the biggest technology companies are investing in making this technology available for the energy sector. The payers include: Accenture, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Deloitte, IBM Corportaion, Grid+, NOdalblock, SAP SE, Power Ledger Pty. Ltd. and Amazon Web Services, Inc., to name a few.
Continue Reading Powered by Blockchain

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has great potential to solve many of the fundamental challenges facing the music industry today. Blockchain technology including distributed, decentralized ledgers, smart contracts, and the ability to tokenize digital assets, is uniquely suited to address issues such as rights management, licensing, copyright ownership, royalty tracking and reporting and the primary and secondary ticketing markets for live events. Various aspects of the technology are currently being used to address some of these problems. Despite these current uses, blockchain adoption likely will be incremental and more evolutionary than revolutionary, at first. Longer term, blockchain technology could provide a more comprehensive solution for the industry.
Continue Reading Blockchain. Bringing A Chorus of Cheers to the Music Industry

Blockchain is a rapidly emerging technology and has the potential to bring transformative changes to many industries. As more companies become aware of and study this technology, many questions arise. These questions relate to what blockchain technology is, how it works and what about it is so different. Blockchain is often associated with the financial services industry, but it is applicable to all industries. Many people in the life sciences industry have been asking if blockchain is relevant to them and, if so, how is it applicable? This paper addresses these and other frequently asked questions about blockchain technology and its applicability to the life sciences.
Continue Reading 10 FAQs About Blockchain and Life Sciences