30 | 03 | 2018

BLOCKATHON – EUIPO’s Competition Launched

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission published the public competition that invites interested experts to participate in the competition called BLOCKATHON to be held at AutoWorld, a museum in Brussels, from 22 to 25 June 2018.

The aim of this competition is for expert teams to design and develop appropriate information technology system of tracking products from manufacturers to end users, in order to enhance safety of supply chains, all through Blockchain or similar technologies.

Namely, studies show that consumers who procure products via the Internet are more and more faced with a doubt as to whether a product is authentic or not. Furthermore, there is a possibility for their personal data as well as the data on their means of payment (credit cards) to be misused by individuals or organisations involved in illegal activities; all of these circumstances call for investigation of possibilities of additional protection and safety control of supply chains, thereby consumer protection as well. These issues become even more significant considering the fact that a large number of various products, from foodstuffs, beverages, medications, cosmetic articles, all the way to spare parts for vehicles, are being counterfeited nowadays.

All details of this initiative that will enable ten selected teams to participate in the competition, and the application forms, are available at the following link.

The competition is open for applications until 30 April 2018.