IBM’s partner IPwe will tokenize patents as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a press release. The company will build an infrastructure to store the NFTs. The objective is to improve the way patents are traded. IPwe hopes to “bring new liquidity to this asset class for investors”.
Hosted on IBM Cloud, IPwe’s platform operates as a “global patent marketplace”. On it, users can research, seek, and transact with Intellectual Property. The company has operations in over 50 countries worldwide.
Per the release, the cooperation aims to offer corporations and investors a transparent platform to trade their patents. A company could use a patent’s NFT and add it to its balance sheet. Thus, there could be a “transformation” in how this asset class is commercialized around the world. IPwe CEO Erich Spangenberg said:
The use of NFTs to represent patents will help create completely new ways to interact with IP. This is expected to benefit not only large enterprises that have significant intellectual property, but it will bring new opportunities to small and medium enterprises and even individual IP owners. We believe it will usher in new offerings by financial services firms.
How Will The NFTs Be Traded On IBM Blockchain
IPwe platform will allow NFTs owners to buy, license, finance, sell and commercialize their patents on a global marketplace powered by IBM Blockchain. The cooperation also seeks to ease the sector which, according to the release, has been “difficult to manage, valued” and trade due to the low liquidity.
IPwe’s marketplace allegedly has been adopted by governments, companies, educational institutions, and many other entities. In addition to its commercialization, Intellectual Property NFTs could be used as collateral in a transaction or to give assurance on a company’s value. Therefore, an entity could have a new mechanism to obtain financial support.
The marketplace has a registry that allows a patent’s history to be store with an “enhanced search enable by IBM AI”. In the coming months, this ecosystem will be expanded to include financial institutions, insurers, companies, patent stakeholders, and others, according to the press release.
Jason Kelley, General Manager Global Strategic Partnerships for IBM services said the following on the cooperation:
Our work with IPwe is another example of our collaboration with leading innovators to drive outcomes powered by blockchain capabilities and digital assets that have the potential to transform entire industries.
Kelley added that blockchain technology has become a “critical tool” for any business looking to disrupt and transform its operation. IBM and IPwe have been working for the past 3 years to make the marketplace a “secure” platform, with ease to transact and generate analytics. The partners expect to commercialize NFT by the end of 2021.
Ethereum has maintained its top position as the preferred platform to trade with NFTs. At the time of writing, ETH’s price sits north of $2.303,16 with a 6.1% profit in the daily chart. In the weekly and monthly chart, ETH has 7.5% and 26.7% profits, respectively.
