Blockchain firm HUMBL recently announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) formally issued a patent for the company’s blockchain technology.
The patent was issued on Oct. 15 for HUMBL’s nebulously titled “System and Method for Transferring Currency Using Blockchain.”
While this isn’t the first company to receive a US patent for blockchain-related technology, the time frame surrounding the patent’s approval and issuance highlights one of the regulatory difficulties faced by small businesses in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries.
Patent approval
HUMBL’s newly patented tech appears to be a blockchain-based currency transaction system. Ostensibly, based on the information provided, it would serve as a digital-to-fiat bridge (and vice versa) running on blockchain technology.
This payment system, as described, would allow nearly any two wallets on Earth to transact with no intermediary beyond the digital ledger itself.
A chart demonstrating HUMBL’s payment system. Source: HUMBL
According to HUMBL, the patent approval took over four years. Based on a cursory examination of the filing documents, there doesn’t appear to be anything extraordinary about the technology that would merit such an elongated timeframe for approval.
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The USPTO website indicates that the average “pendency” time — the number of months between applying for a patent and receiving final issuance or disapproval — is 26.2 months.
A chart showing the traditional pendency for a US patent request. Source: USPTO
During the waiting period, as Cointelegraph reported, HUMBL shored up its government ties when it became the official digital asset service provider for the California city of Santa Cruz in 2023.
Now that the long wait is over, HUMBL CEO Brian Foote, CEO of HUMBL, in a commentary published in related press releases, appeared relieved and grateful.
However, he also described the process as potentially chilling for small businesses:
“While these have been some long years spent getting this patent issued … [the length of the process] makes it hard for an early-stage company to stay afloat during that amount of years, legal costs and time spent responding.”
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