Several top-tier public universities in China are stepping up efforts to patent blockchain applications developed on campus.

New data published on Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 by China State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) highlights the efforts by institutions such as Zhejiang University, Shenzhen University and Chinese Academy of Sciences to obtain patents related to the tech. The efforts are a tangible sign of the growing interest – and investment of resources – from China's government-funded academic institutions in the area of blockchain research and development.

The moves also come at a time when an increasing number of companies in China are seeking ways to patent blockchain-related inventions, an effort that is in line with the Chinese government's agenda to push forward with FinTech applications.

As reported by CoinDesk previously, major financial institutions, namely Bank of China, have already weighed in on issues such as blockchain scaling.

According to records published by SIPO, Zhejiang University wants to patent a cloud-based blockchain system that facilitates cross-border payment transactions. The institution further claims in its filings that, instead of transactions passing through a third party as a kind of trustee, the system will record a sender's transaction request on a decentralized blockchain ledger that is formed by distributed cloud servers.

Meanwhile, the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences is eyeing a blockchain system that can "simultaneously support public, private and consortium blockchains," records show.

Shenzhen University, by contrast, is pursuing a patent related to a specific use case – intellectual property rights for artists – which uses the technology as a means to tag and trace works. The system would also facilitate a kind of tamper-proof artwork trading system if fully realized.

See the full patent application of Zhejiang University below:

Zhejiang University patent application by CoinDesk on Scribd

Zhejiang University image via Shutterstock