A quick update on the growing smart contract patent landscape. I’ve written before about the number of patents mentioning smart contracts here, here, and here. The number of filings continue to grow at a rapid pace.
As of May 30, 2018, we know of 267 patent filings in the USA that mention “smart contracts.” These filings include issued patents, and published patent applications. There are surely more we do not know about. The chart below shows a breakdown of filings by the year they were filed.