A hospital network in the United Kingdom has started implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) from Hedera Hashgraph to track COVID-19 vaccines. The hospital network has experience using IoT sensors to track temperature-sensitive medical supplies, and implementing a DLT system will help secure and distribute important data at a crucial time.

Despite having raised over $100M in funding, Hedera Hashgraph does not have any patents covering its algorithms. That's because Hedera has an exclusive license to all hashgraph technology patented by Swirlds. The two companies also share co-founders, and Swirlds is part of the Hedera governing council. Speed is key for hospital systems preparing for quick rollout, and Swirlds has patent applications directed specifically towards efficient implementations of DLTs using a leader-less system.

Swirlds has 19 patents and applications and is continuing to patent distributed database technologies, supporting future licensing opportunities and diversification. Hedera has also recently added Dentons, one of the world's largest law firms, to its governing council. You can follow along with more patent activity and strategy by subscribing to the Cryptocurrency Patent Forecast®.