Xerox Wins Patent For Blockchain Auditing System To Track Electronic Files

By Kapil Gauhar

The USPTO (U.S. Patent And Trademark Office) has awarded Xerox with a Patent for a blockchain-based auditing system that tracks revisions to electronic documents, as indicated by a patent filing published November 13.

Widely known for its eponymous printing as well as digital copying appliances, Xerox first filed the patent in August 2017. The patent articulates a blockchain-driven auditing system for the secure recording of the revisions which are made to electronic files.

The technology provided by Xerox can apparently detect even if a file has been altered. Also, it tracks the history of all the changes made. Because of its decentralized verification mechanism, this system has become resistant to tampering, the filing states.

Defining the technology backing the patent, Xerox explains a series of blockchain mining nodes that may either authorize or dismiss each amendment made. Also, the filing indicates that the management network will signal its users each time a particular node fails to approve the file or when the content differs from its verified version.

Xerox believes that this afresh patented technology can be utilized for auditing electronic files in many areas, like medical as well as financial records, educational documents, and tax papers. The filing particularly mentions criminal investigation records, like crime scene photos, interview notes, and DNA test results that have to be protected from tampering and alterations.

Xerox filed a similar patent in 2016 aiming to create a blockchain-driven timestamp protocol for the data like pictures or copies. As mentioned in the filing, the company wanted the marks to be irrevocable, which means that data which bears such a mark could be submitted in court as evidence.

Some major tech and electronic companies have filed a slew of such patent applications for several proprietary iterations as well as applications of blockchain technology. A September report stated that IBM had filed a lot of Blockchain-driven patent applications than any other company during publication.