As leaders in Washington squabble about how to protect existing intellectual property, crying foul at China’s efforts to catch up, America may be losing ground in a race to develop key technologies.
Patent research firm Patinformatics found that filings for inventions in the area of quantum information technology (QIT) has skyrocketed in recent years, driven mainly by China. In fact, China is blowing the closest competition, the US, out of the water.
While IBM has a substantial QIT patent portfolio, its focus is primarily on hardware and Qubit technologies. Meanwhile, according to the new study, Chinese organizations are dominating the patenting of QIT applications, having amassed nearly twice the number of patents projected for 2017.
“Chinese firms, Qasky, QuantumCTek, and Shenzhou Quantum are worth watching considering the enormous patent portfolios they are building,” Patintformatics analysts said. “Approximately 72% of the academic patent families published in QIT since 2012 have been from Chinese universities. US universities are a distant second with 12%.”
The report found that quantum computer manufacturers tend to be based in North America, while Asian-based organizations are focusing on cryptology and communication applications.
“North American organizations may control the computer, but Asian organizations may end up controlling how those machines are used.”
Interesting.
Jamming is a good DEFENSIVE tactic! Why does the Pentagon whinge about DEFENSIVE installations in the South China Sea?