The aim of this work is to investigate emerging research trends and propose an evidence-based roadmap for encouraging further research into the management of blockchain technology. A bibliometric analysis is proposed, with a focus on intellectual property (IP) issues, in the field of blockchain technology. Then, the study highlights the main benefits that blockchain provides as well as the main difficulties, barriers, and challenges that emerge from the literature. The present study provides a reference for scientific communities to understand the current state of blockchain technology, thereby contributing to future research in the area. Moreover, it offers industrial implications and recommendations for entrepreneurs, managers, and practitioners.
TopLiterature Background
Both academics and industry practitioners have paid attention to the wide range of blockchain applications, but the development of the associated technology has not been thoroughly studied. Some reviews have examined the specific role of blockchain in different sectors: the Internet of Things (IoT; Conoscenti et al., 2016, Christidis & Devetsikiotis, 2016); big data (Karafiloski and Mishev, 2017a); security (Khan & Salah, 2017; Li et al., 2017; Meng et al., 2018); service systems (Seebacher et al., 2017); and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms (Hawlitschek et al., 2018). Other studies (Bonneau et al., 2015; Tsukerman, 2015; Mukhopadhyay et al., 2016; Khalilov & Levi, 2018; Conti et al., 2018) were focused on privacy. Yli-Huumo et al. (2016) analysed 41 blockchain papers on technology and concluded that there were at that point no reasonable solutions to challenges such as latency and hard forks. Hölbl et al. (2018) examined 33 studies in health care and stated that current research on blockchain applications in the field was still at the framework design stage. Firdaus et al. (2019) carried out a statistical analysis of 1,119 papers and found that the United States, China, and Germany were the countries with the most published papers on blockchain technologies and that the IoT and medical care were the most popular areas for researchers. Dabbagh, Sookhak, and Safa’s (2019) review several papers revealing that computers, engineering, economics, and telecommunications were the main blockchain research areas. Casino et al. (2019) undertook a structured, systematic review and thematic content analysis of the literature and presented a comprehensive classification of blockchain-enabled applications across diverse sectors such as supply chains, business, healthcare, IoT, privacy, and data management. Meanwhile, Hu and Pan (2021) identified the paths of blockchain technology through the examination of relevant patents. However, these have been under-researched. A large amount of investment is flowing into the blockchain space to support inventions and new blockchain’s applications in precision medicine, financial transactions, energy waste reduction, digital rights management, and so on. Companies have an interest in staking a claim to their inventions by filing patent applications. This area could become a “land grab” for intellectual property in the next future. Thus, the present study attempts to understand which are the main trends in blockchain literature that concentrates on patent activities? Which are the main practices in the field? Which are the main benefits and the future possible challenges? Through an analysis of 286 papers, it is possible to get an overall picture of the development of blockchain from a technological perspective. Then, a focus on the specific management field is proposed, by selecting 57 papers. The present study provides a reference for scientific communities to understand the current state of blockchain technology, thereby contributing to future research in the area.