Huawei Seeks Patent for Blockchain Rights Management

Chinese telecoms giant and smartphone maker Huawei may be seeking to use blockchain tech to protect digital property rights.

In its latest patent application, released by China's State Intellectual Property Office on Tuesday, the Shenzhen-based technology firm details an invention that claims to add a verification feature to a peer-to-peer content distribution network powered by blockchain technology.

According to the filing, first submitted in August 2016, the system would store verification information for digital content on a blockchain. When parties initiate download requests over the peer-to-peer network, the system matches their private keys or licenses for accessing the content with the verification information.

Only if a consensus is reached in validating the request will the blockchain allow the download, the patent filing says. Huawei claims that the technology is, in essence, a way to guard intellectual property rights for digital content that is distributed over peer-to-peer networks.

Although it remains to be seen whether the application will be granted by the patent office, the filing marks a further effort by Huawei in moving to develop and adopt blockchain technology.

The company joined the Hyperledger blockchain consortium in October 2016, months after its patent submission. As reported by CoinDesk in January this year, the telecommunications firm is also among the early adopters of Hyperledger's Sawtooth software, for which the firm is currently developing a decompiler.

See the full patent description below:

Huawei intellectual property patent by CoinDesk on Scribd

Huawei image via Shutterstock