COPA and Unified Patents Launch ‘Blockchain Zone’ to Fight Patent Trolls
Date: 2024-10-02 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BLOCKCHAIN, BUSINESS
Cryptocurrency group COPA has teamed up with Unified Patents to launch a campaign aimed at combating patent trolls. According to an Oct. 1 announcement, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has teamed up with patent services firm Unified Patents to create the “Blockchain Zone.”
The initiative aims to protect blockchain developers and companies from legal attacks by non-patent holders known as patent trolls who seek to profit from litigation. Patent trolls are individuals or companies that hold patents without intending to develop or use the technology, but instead make money from licensing fees and lawsuits.
COPA was founded in 2020 by Jack Dorsey, the founder of fintech company Block (formerly Square). The organization works to ensure the free use of key technologies in the cryptocurrency space. COPA members include MicroStrategy, Worldcoin, Kraken, and Blockstream.
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, one of the founders of COPA, called patent trolls “an obstacle to innovation,” emphasizing that they slow down progress and stifle creativity. According to the report, non-exploiting patent holders (NPEs) were responsible for 58% of all patent lawsuits last year, and most of them were against tech giants like Samsung, Google, and Apple.
COPA accuses Craig Wright of forging a Bitcoin origins document
There have been cases of patent trolling in the crypto space before. For example, last year, the Washington-based DeFi Education Fund succeeded in invalidating a patent from True Return Systems, which had filed a lawsuit against MakerDAO and Compound Finance, accusing them of infringing a patent on linking data to a blockchain. DEF called TRS a “patent troll” and said the patent should not have been granted.
The launch of the “Blockchain Zone” project is aimed at preventing such legal challenges and ensuring the free development of blockchain technologies, said Kevin Jaeckel, CEO of Unified Patents. COPA participants will receive protection from legal threats from NPEs at no additional cost.
The initiative continues COPA’s work to combat unfounded intellectual property claims. In particular, COPA filed a lawsuit against Craig Wright, who claimed to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. In March 2024, a UK court ruled that Wright was not involved in the creation of Bitcoin.
