Intellectual property (IP) protection can be a vital part of a company’s journey from young upstart to billion-dollar behemoth, safeguarding all its technologists’ hard work while adding t
A megabucks enterprise acquisition that closed six months ago could lead to thousands of patents landing on the open market. Last August, Canadian enterprise technology giant OpenText announced plans
In the summer of 2017, we wrote about a battle between Cloudflare, the San Francisco-based internet security and content delivery network, and two attorneys who’d previously litigated intellectual p
The LOT Network has been around for a few years now. Its mission is to fight patent trolls and it does so by having all of its members commit to a pledge that ensures that whenever they sell a patent
Blockchain is perhaps the most hyped technology of the past five years. The technology that allows us to create trustless immutable shared ledgers promises to bring transparency and honesty to commerc
When the internet security company Cloudflare decided to engage in all-out war with what it views as a “dangerous new breed of patent troll,” it found a receptive audience with Eric Lesser
Matthew Prince knew what was coming. The CEO of Cloudflare, an internet security company and content delivery network in San Francisco, was behind his desk when the emails began. College classmates-tu
Sad! Patent trolls, who've benefited from a 30-year-old legal standard that made it possible for patent holders to sue companies in almost any U.S. jurisdiction -- including a federal district in east
Entrepreneurs don’t pour all their energy into building startups just to have a patent troll attack them with patents of questionable quality. The patent troll problem is big and growing, posing a t
Incredible design and manufacturing capabilities are available to almost anyone right now, thanks to 3D printing services and the designers/makers who populate those services’ marketplaces with desi
One of the things I really love about working with startup founders is that they are by nature an optimistic crowd: They set out to build amazing things, change the world and fundamentally shift the w
Bill Gates recently penned an open letter to the 2016 presidential candidates, imploring them to support something he hopes “every candidate will agree on in November: America’s unparalleled capac
In Return of the Jedi, Yoda tells Luke "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.” Luckily for me, this didn’t apply to the patent world. I spe
As a former patent examiner, I recognize that the patent system, in its purest form, should protect and incentivize innovation through a limited-term contract, offering exclusive monopoly rights cover
Patent trolls, more formally known as Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), pose a major threat to American businesses. A study published by the Boston University School of Law revealed that more than six
A new trio of open patent licenses can help encourage innovation, reduce patent trolling, and help attract top engineering talent. These licenses aren’t just for idealistic hippies. They are legal t
The Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited opinion in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, known more affectionately in many circles as the Supreme Court case deciding whether software is patentab
Over the past few years, the debate over so-called “patent trolls” has risen to a fever pitch. Businesses of all sizes have complained about the “horrible” effects of patent trolls. Legal scho
The White House isn't waiting for Congress to enact new intellectual property laws. President Obama has made good on his promise to go after so-called "patent trolls," businesses that hoard legal owne
NPEs (the bad ones) are undeniably a problem. By one estimate, companies that have been targeted by NPEs spend $29 billion a year in direct costs, with $83 billion a year in lost wealth, an amount tha
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