Digital contracts in blockchain environments
US11334874B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 30, 2018 |
| Grant date | May 17, 2022 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 26, 2039 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/12
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Digital or “smart” contracts execute in a blockchain environment. Any entity (whether public or private) may specify a digital contract via a contract identifier in a blockchain. Because there may be many digital contracts offered as virtual services, the contract identifier uniquely identifies a particular digital contract offered by a virtual machine, vendor or supplier. The blockchain is thus not burdened with the programming code that is required to execute the digital contract. The blockchain need only include or specify the contract identifier (and perhaps one or more contractual parameters), thus greatly simplifying the blockchain and reducing its size (in bytes) and processing requirements.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.