Bitcoin Patents

Bitcoin exchange rate. Provided by blockchain.info

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency that involves open source software. It was introduced in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Mysteriously, this name appears to be a pseudonym and the true identity of the developer or developers is not known. A technical paper that started it all, allegedly authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, can be found here.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency because it uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money. Users send and receive payments using their personal computers, smartphones or a web application.

Bitcoins have grown in popularity in recent months and value of Bitcoins has skyrocketed. They are currently trading at 1 Bitcoin to about 825 U.S. Dollars. Bitcoins are highly volatile; they have traded at over US$1,100 and near zero within the same year.

Bitcoin Patents

Although Bitcoin has received a great deal of attention in certain circles, there are relatively few patent records that reference Bitcoins. The first published patent applications specifically referencing Bitcoins were filed in 2011.

This is a list of U.S. patents and published patent applications that reference Bitcoins:

Granted Patents

1 8,621,368
System and methods of virtual world interaction
2 8,572,207
Dynamic serving of multidimensional content
3 8,523,657 Gaming System, gaming device and method for utilizing bitcoins
4 8,522,330
Systems and methods of managing virtual world avatars
5 8,493,386 Systems and methods of managed script execution
6 8,453,219 Systems and methods of assessing permissions in virtual worlds
7 8,449,378 Gaming systems, gaming device and method for utilizing bitcoins

Pending Applications

1 20140025473 CROWDFUNDING BASED ON ACTIONS
2 20140007201 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ASSESSING PERMISSIONS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
3 20130346883 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF MANAGING VIRTUAL WORLD AVATARS
4 20130346309 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING AND TRANSFERRING FUNGIBLE ELECTRONIC MONEY
5 20130346228 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING NEWS MATERIALS OBTAINED BY BYSTANDERS
6 20130311266 METHOD AND SYSTEM TO PERSONALIZE REWARDS AND LOYALTY PROGRAMS
7 20130305142 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ASSESSING PERMISSIONS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
8 20130282580 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EXTENDING IDENTITY ATTRIBUTES AND AUTHENTICATION FACTORS IN AN ePAYMENT ADDRESS REGISTRY
9 20130246233 Method for Virtual Currency Futures Transactions
10 20130232023 Systems and methods to process online monetary payments dependenton conditional triggers involving future events for online auctions and online trading exchanges involving stock exchange, commodity exchange, foreign exchange, sporting exchange, gaming exchange, file sharing exchange, andother types of online peer-to-peer exchange.
11 20130215115 DELIVERING AND CONTROLLING STREAMING INTERACTIVE MEDIA COMPRISING RENDERED GEOMETRIC, TEXTURE AND LIGHTING DATA
12 20130212388 PROVIDING TRUSTWORTHY WORKFLOW ACROSS TRUST BOUNDARIES
13 20130179555 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TIMESTAMPING DATA AND METHOD AND DEVICE FOR VERIFICATION OF A TIMESTAMP
14 20130179337 Account free possession and transfer of electronic money
15 20130166455 CREATING AND USING DIGITAL CURRENCY
16 20130166398 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING A CONTEXT BASED PAYMENT SYSTEM
17 20130085945 Limited Access to a Digital Version of a Purchased Paper Book
18 20130073620 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC TRADING BASED UPON INFLUENCE
19 20130055280 QUALITY OF SERVICE AWARE CAPTIVE AGGREGATION WITH TRUE DATACENTER TESTING
20 20130046854 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF VIRTUAL WORLDS ACCESS
21 20130046853 MULTIDIMENSIONAL GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS
22 20130044106 SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF OBJECT PROCESSING IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
23 20130041773 Systems and methods to process online monetary payments dependent on conditional triggers involving future events
24 20120278200 Value Banking System And Technique Utilizing Complementary Value Currency
25 20120239556 LATENCY PAYMENT SETTLEMENT APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS
26 20120215652 MARKETPLACE FOR SENSOR DATA FROM MOBILE DEVICES AND ITS ABSTRACTIONS
27 20120101886 DYNAMICALLY GENERATED TARGETED SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGE

There are many advantages and interesting aspects to Bitcoins. The number of patent applications being filed for Bitcoin related inventions is likely to increase. We have probably only just begun to see innovations with Bitcoin and other digital currencies.