Bonum Certa Men Certa

Blockchain Domain Infested With Software Patents, MasterCard Among the Culprits

MasterCard
Part of the duopoly (with Visa)



Summary: Worrying signs that an area of Free/Open Source software innovation is getting impacted by the plague of software patents

EARLIER this year we alluded to Blockchain patents in relation to a sham promise from a company with no patents. It ought to be be widely known -- as it certainly is widely recognised among people in the profession -- that software patents on financial stuff are the least likely to survive in courts (irrespective of what USPTO examiners do).



And yes, according to this new article, "MasterCard (MA) Files for Blockchain Patents" (!).

A new article from Fortune (published yesterday) is titled "Are Blockchain Patents a Bad Idea?"

Consider whose interests Fortune is serving.

"Remember the connection of Blockchain to Bitcoin, Free/Open Source software, GNU/Linux, and the Linux Foundation. A lot of those are inherently not compatible with patents."Truly troubling.

Remember the connection of Blockchain to Bitcoin, Free/Open Source software, GNU/Linux, and the Linux Foundation. A lot of those are inherently not compatible with patents.

Earlier today Sam Dean published the article "Will Patent Wars Bog Down the Blockchain Movement?"

Well, they can certainly cause a lot of damage. Other news about Blockchain today is optimistic about business prospects of Blockchain, but what happens if over the next year or two the most news we hear about Blockchain and hyper-ledgers relates to patents? As we noted here before, even Goldman Sachs dives into this gold rush of patents in this particular area.

Software patents need to end, but while the US cracks down of them they appear to have already spread to China, as we shall show later in the weekend. ⬆

Recent Techrights' Posts

NVIDIA Turns Out to be Serial Cheater, Stock Plunges 33% in 5 Weeks
The "slop bros" have long relied on patience and blind faith
 
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIX - We Didn't Start the Fire
It started in 2012
Photo Ops Are Liabilities
NVIDIA is not a "family business" and its CEO isn't some modest genius
NVIDIA’s Total Debt Trebled in Three Months!
Not the hallmark of a rich company unless its accounting is fraudulent
Adopting LLM Slop is Still Suicide
Suicide (in the literal sense) is also linked to adoption of chatbots
On Laundering Licences and Code
A "Second SCO" waiting to happen
The Cyber Show on Slop and the Ministry Of Truth in "Nineteen Eighty Four"
"cultural erasure" by slop
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXVIII - Keeping Both Eyes on the Ball
One upside of these disputes is that they raise at least two very important issues concerning the law
Gemini Links 12/11/2026: Encryption is Easy, Human Emacs, and Legislation in Italy
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 11, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Links 11/11/2026: End of Novaya Gazeta (Assassinated by Putin) and North Koreans Too Poor to Buy Rice
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/11/2026: The Tyrant’s Moat and Rants About Slop Causing Problems
Links for the day
Links 11/11/2026: Skydance Games and Boeing Hit By Layoffs, "Time Out for Timeouts"
Links for the day
IRC is for Communities, Social Control Networks Are for Broligarchs (by Broligarchs)
Unlike Reddit, it's not a company
JavaScript is the Problem, Not the Answer
Making the Web better is about making things better, not slapping more JavaScript 'walls' at it
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXVII - "Making a False Complaint to Police is a Crime." (British Cops Aren't American Mercenaries)
"In the United Kingdom, the Foreign Enlistment Act 1819 and the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 make it unlawful for British subjects to join the armed forces of any state warring with another state at peace with Britain."
The Label 'Anti-AI'
They make it sound like opposing plagiarism or cheating is an act of intolerance or hatred
Intolerance and Violence
Intolerance in the software world is not a new problem
António Campinos Hiding From Staff Amid Strikes, Won't Participate in Dialogue
They voted to continue striking until Christmas
Silent Layoffs at IBM (Rolling Layoffs), Now Curbs on H1B (Mostly Indian Applicants)
Little will change at IBM except the gravity (global distribution) of its workforce will go east
Links 11/11/2026: Moving from Proton to Posteo and "Floating in Space"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXVI - Attempts to Kill Critics
"Epstein contacted Cambridge academics about research funding"
Gemini Links 10/11/2026: Running, Tektronix, and "Smallnet Information Services Zig Port"
Links for the day
Corporations Don't Lose 2 Trillion Dollars in 'Value' Over a 'Dick Story', This is an Overvaluation and Belated Correction
Nvidia is down, down, down again
Links 10/11/2026: "50 Years of Project Censored" and NVIDIA's Collapse Continues
Links for the day
NVIDIA Down About 30% in 5 Weeks, When Does the Media Call It "Bubble" Rather Than Frame It as Sex Scandal?
they'll find a way to blame "China"
Surreal Times
NVIDIA's shares fell 27% in 5 weeks
Links 10/11/2026: "Jensen Huang Could Face $81 Billion Divorce Bill" and "Nvidia Shareholders sue Jensen Huang"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, November 09, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, November 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/11/2026: Open Problem in Computer Science Due to Bloat and "Queueing Nine Hours for an iPhone"
Links for the day