Blockchain para a proteção intelectual em ecossistemas de startups
Authors: Sena Priscila Machado Borges , de Souza de Aguiar Monteiro Elizabete Cristina , Blattmann Ursula , Sant’Ana Ricardo César Gonçalves 
Published: May 2019

Startups are spontaneously built up in risk and uncertainty, so they have the essence of innovation in order to create revolutionary products and services for the market. Agglomerates called ecosystems can be considered as communities of organizations and individuals (entrepreneurs, investors, incubators) and other interest groups, united to carry out economic and social activities. Creativity is assumed as the driving force of the startups ecosystems and in this way brings light to the problem of how to maintain the innovative dynamics of startups ecosystems and ensure the intellectual protection of ideas. The registration of innovations can occur through patents, which in Brazil usually occurs with the final product. In relation to startups it is feasible to register the ideas before finalizing. An alternative that can be applied to the aspects of provenance and intellectual protection of ideas is the blockchain technology, a public registry, decentralized based on a uniformly distributed, tamper-proof architecture that records all transactions that are performed on the system in a specific moment, with date and time, being able to trace the provenance of the data. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of the blockchain for intellectual protection in startups ecosystems, as well as to indicate the advantages and challenges of its adoption, based on an exploratory descriptive research, and a bibliometric study of the data recovered on an international basis. The terms used were blockchain AND startup, with no period delimitation in the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases, on January 7, 2019. As a result we obtained 21 documents. In relation to the number of publications per year, 2019 presented two, 2018 three, 2017 two, and one 2016, demonstrating that the theme is recent in the scientific literature. As for the authorship and titles of the periodicals, it was verified that they are not repeated in any of the articles. Regarding the focus and scope of articles and periodicals, it was noted that the areas of Information Technology and Economy are more present. The articles reviewed provided examples of startups developing blockchain-based business, including the use of crypto-coins, applications, and business models that are transforming startups in business transactions, managing digital assets, and capturing financial resources. On the advantages of blockchain adoption in Startups Ecosystems, they have been found to encompass the agility of record authorship and follow-up on subsequent changes, maintaining the innovative dynamics of startups ecosystems and ensuring intellectual protection. As challenges, we see opportunities for studies in several areas of knowledge, which makes the information professional an outstanding agent in mediating the factors involved, since in their area of research and performance are related to aspects linked to the dynamics presented. As future research, research on the subject is sought in professional journals specialized in economics and law, and in the empirical field in general, in order to relate and develop the cited aspects as advantages and challenges.