Modelling a Blockchain Solution for Intellectual Property Management in Digitised Industrial Environments

In the industry 4.0 vision, the competitiveness of companies is based on innovation, business-to-business collaboration and digitalisation. In such collaborative frameworks, the sharing of trade secrets depends to a greater or lesser extent on the degree of trust between the parties involved in the collaboration. This paper proposes an application model for trade secret protection based on blockchain, using the smart contracts support and tokenization capabilities available in the Ethereum network. The application of the model along the value chain of the collaborative industrial environment promotes the sharing of industrial secrets with the guarantee provided by blockchain technology, increasing trust and added value in the relationship. Keywords: Industry 4.0, blockchain, innovation, intellectual property, knowledge management