Nike was awarded US patent 10,505,726 B1, System and method for providing cryptographically secured digital assets, in an attempt to thwart counterfeiters in both the physical and virtual world. Nike contends "With the proliferation of first and third person video games involving customizable skins, apparel, and gear, there exists an opportunity to engage and influence users in the digital realm via collectable objects so that they may be more engaged with a brand in the physical world. Likewise, there exists a need for a retailer to more directly influence and/or control the nature and ultimate supply of digital objects within this virtual market."
Making use of a distributed blockchain ledger, the inventors, Andon, Davis, Pham and Schroeder, allow for the creation, protection, tracking, authentication and sales of not only a physical pair of shoes but the digital representation as well. And it is this "digital asset" that may spawn offspring.
Making use of a distributed blockchain ledger, the inventors, Andon, Davis, Pham and Schroeder, allow for the creation, protection, tracking, authentication and sales of not only a physical pair of shoes but the digital representation as well. And it is this "digital asset" that may spawn offspring.
From the '726 patent, "Owners of cryptographic digital assets may wish to intermingle or “breed” their digital assets with other digital assets to create asset “offspring,” such as schematically shown in FIG. 6. A first digital asset owner and a second digital asset owner may wish to collaborate and crossbreed their digital assets 82, 84 in order to create a new cryptographic digital asset. The first owner may be set as a “primary artist” if his/her digital asset has attributes desired by the second owner. In this instance, the second owner may initiate a smart contract with the first owner to collaborate. One or both parties may fund the contract with physical or digital currency, e.g., to pay for the transfer, a “collab fee” set by the breeding host site, and an optional siring fee for the second owner's siring services. Once both parties agree to and sign the breeding contract, one or both parties may be prompted to select one or more traits from their “parent” digital asset to transfer to the resultant “progeny” digital asset. Alternatively, the breeding host site may employ a breeding algorithm to build a new digital asset from two or more preexisting digital assets."
Further. "A “Collab Science” Algorithm may be employed to determine which contributing cryptographic digital asset will be designated as the sire, determine which contributing cryptographic digital asset will be designated as the dam, and determine which code subsets from each parent asset will be employed to build the cryptographic token key for the resultant digital asset."
From the '726 patent, "Owners of cryptographic digital assets may wish to intermingle or “breed” their digital assets with other digital assets to create asset “offspring,” such as schematically shown in FIG. 6. A first digital asset owner and a second digital asset owner may wish to collaborate and crossbreed their digital assets 82, 84 in order to create a new cryptographic digital asset. The first owner may be set as a “primary artist” if his/her digital asset has attributes desired by the second owner. In this instance, the second owner may initiate a smart contract with the first owner to collaborate. One or both parties may fund the contract with physical or digital currency, e.g., to pay for the transfer, a “collab fee” set by the breeding host site, and an optional siring fee for the second owner's siring services. Once both parties agree to and sign the breeding contract, one or both parties may be prompted to select one or more traits from their “parent” digital asset to transfer to the resultant “progeny” digital asset. Alternatively, the breeding host site may employ a breeding algorithm to build a new digital asset from two or more preexisting digital assets."
Further. "A “Collab Science” Algorithm may be employed to determine which contributing cryptographic digital asset will be designated as the sire, determine which contributing cryptographic digital asset will be designated as the dam, and determine which code subsets from each parent asset will be employed to build the cryptographic token key for the resultant digital asset."
a final thought...
Just a quick note on pendency. Nike's '726 patent was granted in just 196 days, 6.5 months, after filing, . When the typical pendency for a patent to be granted by the USPTO can be anywhere between 2 and 4 years, why the rush on this application? Reviewing 1,000 of its most recently granted patents, Nike has an average pendency of 37.5 months with the '726 patent ranking fifth in the shoe makers quickest granted patents. Just a question on corporate strategy, the competitve environment and why some paents are fast tracked.
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