The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and Unified Patents have today announced the launch of the Blockchain Zone. This joint initiative aims to protect the blockchain ecosystem from patent trolls and deter non-practicing entities (NPEs) from making unwarranted patent assertions that could hinder the growth and innovation of blockchain technologies.
Together, COPA and Unified Patents would ensure that blockchain technologies are protected from unwarranted and costly assertions by entities trying to leverage the high cost of patent litigation to drive settlements.
Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, a member of COPA, said, “Patent trolls are barriers in the path of innovation; they hinder the progress of technology and stifle the spirit of creativity, particularly in the fast-evolving world of cryptocurrency. They must be stopped so that the community can continue to do the important business of building the crypto-economy.”
COPA and Unified Patents have a history of combating patent trolls in other technology sectors. The Blockchain Zone builds upon the success of Unified Patents’ Transactions Zone, which has successfully challenged hundreds of patents that threatened electronic transactions, online bill payments, and authentication.
Steve Lee, Lead at Spiral, a subsidiary of Block and member of COPA, said, “COPA has fought long and hard to reduce barriers to crypto innovation, including its efforts to debunk false IP claims related to Satoshi Nakomoto’s identity, which have plagued the bitcoin community. Now, we take COPA’s work a step further to protect the crypto community from patent trolls.”
In 2023, NPEs still accounted for 58% of all patent litigation, similar to a 5-year average. Unified Patents is the only solution designed to deter NPE activity and, therefore, Unified never pays any money to NPEs, whether to purchase licenses or otherwise. This ensures that Unified never incentivizes further NPE activity.
By providing COPA members with pass-through protection, Unified Patents seeks to shield developers from the costly and time-consuming legal battles often associated with NPE lawsuits.
Kevin Jakel, founder and CEO of Unified Patents, LLC. said “We’re happy to partner with COPA to bring our unique solution to the blockchain community, It represents a wonderful opportunity to ensure that the technology remains free to grow businesses, reduce transaction costs, and ensures it won’t be hindered by the all-too-common baseless patent assertions affecting other sectors of the economy.”
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