As a seasoned analyst with a decade-long career in tech law, I’ve seen my fair share of patent trolls and their nefarious activities. The partnership between COPA and Unified Patents to create the Blockchain Zone is a much-needed initiative that brings hope for the crypto community.
Crypto advocacy group COPA has partnered with Unified Patents to launch a campaign targeting “patent trolls.”
As per a declaration made on October 1st, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance has joined forces with Unified Patents, a company offering specialized patent consultation services, to establish a collaborative area called “The Blockchain Zone.
This endeavor aims at shielding blockchain creators and businesses against lawsuits instigated by entities who do not actively use technology (often referred to as “patent trolls”) and non-practicing entities, aiming to make money off such legal disputes.
For the benefit of those not familiar, Patent trolls refer to entities, be they individuals or companies, who possess patents primarily to generate income via licensing or lawsuits. These entities usually have no plans to develop or utilize the technology described in their patents.
Established in the year 2020 by Jack Dorsey, the fintech company now known as Block (previously Square), the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) prioritizes maintaining the freedom of access to crucial cryptocurrency technologies for everyone. Notable members within COPA include MicroStrategy, Worldcoin, Kraken, and Blockstream, along with several others.
COPA (Crypto Open Patent Alliance) founding member, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, highlighted the importance of preventing these types of entities. He referred to them as “innovation blockers,” explaining that they obstruct advancement and suppress originality by hindering progress and creative expression.
Last year, it is said that Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) accounted for approximately 58% of all patent lawsuits, with a significant number of these cases being aimed at tech firms such as Samsung, Google, and Apple.
History of patent trolls in the crypto space
Previously, instances of perceived patent abuse in the world of cryptocurrency have been noted. To jog your memory, the DeFi Education Fund (DEF), a think tank based in Washington D.C., attempted to nullify a patent belonging to True Return Systems (TRS) last year.
TRS had sued MakerDAO and Compound Finance for allegedly infringing on its patent, which links off-chain data to a blockchain. DEF called TRS a “patent troll” and argued that the patent should never have been issued.
The launch of the Blockchain Zone aims to prevent such legal challenges from slowing down development and ensure that the blockchain sector remains free from “baseless patent assertions,” said Kevin Jakel, CEO of Unified Patents.
In the course of our partnership, COPA members will benefit from a free pass-through protection, which means they won’t need to confront potential legal challenges from Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) without assistance.
The ongoing project aligns with the work that COPA has previously undertaken, focusing on challenging misleading intellectual property assertions within our community.
The organization known as COPA filed a lawsuit against Dr. Craig Wright, who declared himself as the secretive inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. In March 2024, after a prolonged court case, Judge James Mellor of the UK High Court determined that Dr. Wright did not contribute to the creation of Bitcoin and is not, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto.
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2024-10-02 10:16