IBM Files Patent For Blockchain Database Management System. Does It Matter?

Patenting blockchain looks like another attempt to establish dominance that will end up as a pay day for lawyers, if not for the litigants themselves.

As corporations pursue another fruitless round of expensive litigation, it will probably take years to establish...nothing.  See Apple-Samsung, etc.


Yashu Gola reports in CCN:

The patent for “Managing a Database Management System using a Blockchain Database” explains IBM’s intention to build a reliable database tampering detection system (IDT-DS). The proposed system would detect inconsistencies in a set of data stored in a central database concerning a partial copy of the same data stored on a blockchain database. The public ledger’s privatization has attracted millions of dollars worth of investment, and has begun the next big battle to establish who owns the technological revolution which blockchain brings.

Industry giant and proactive decentralized tech mover IBM has filed a patent for certain aspects of blockchain technology, a newly published document revealed.

The patent for “Managing a Database Management System using a Blockchain Database” explains the IBM’s intention to build a reliable database tampering detection system (IDT-DS). The proposed system would detect inconsistencies in a set of data stored in a central database concerning a partial copy of the same data stored on a blockchain database.

“Aspects of the disclosure include a method, system, and computer program product for managing a database management system (DBMS),” the patent read. “A central database to include a set of central data may be structured with respect to the DBMS. A blockchain database which is linked with the central database may be constructed with respect to the DBMS. A set of blockchain data may be established in the blockchain database corresponding to the set of central data of the central database.”

To access the system, one would need to initiate an access request to the DBMS. In response to receiving the access request, both the central database and the blockchain database would be maintained.

IBM filed the patent initially on Dec. 22, 2017, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The act signifies the American corporation’s mounting interest in the blockchain technology. USPTO has already awarded six distributed ledger-related patents to them in 2o18.

The focus on developing a blockchain-enabled database management system is predictable, given the sensitivity of data that IBM might want to protect across its range of services. The corporation already offers IBM D2, a solution comprising of database management, operational database, data warehouse, data lake, and fast data. Innovating existing systems through blockchain would assist IBM to resolve issues related to data inconsistencies, hopscotch, and a variety of security loopholes.

The corporation, in its previous quotes, has recognized blockchain for being able to “foster a new generation of transactional applications that establish trust, accountability, and transparency—from contracts to deeds to payments.” It already contributes to Fabric, a permissioned blockchain framework aimed at integration projects. IBM also contributes to a variety of Hyperledger tools, including Caliper, Cello, Composer, and Explorer.

IBM has confirmed the race to patent blockchain. The public ledger’s privatization has already attracted millions of dollars worth of investment, and has begun the next big battle among corporations to establish who would own the technological revolution – which blockchain brings.