Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, published a post in which he explained that all the Square’s crypto patents will be put into a non-profit organization called Crypto Open Patent Alliance.
Square is putting all of our crypto patents into a new non-profit org we’re calling the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, which will maintain a shared patent library to help the crypto community defend against patent aggressors and trolls. Join us! #bitcoinhttps://t.co/I9VopgtMz9
— jack (@jack) September 10, 2020
The alliance is about empowering the adoption and advancement of crypto technology. The alliance works on the foundation that open access to patents covering foundational crypto technology is essential for the community, aiming to make the blockchain community grow, innovate freely, and develop new and better products.
A description of Jack Dorsey’s Crypto Open Patent Alliance
There needs to be a worldwide authentic internet currency. The same way that everyone should be allowed to be involved in the economy and have access to similar tools and services should be in the crypto space. The success of crypto technology relies on the community coming together and building upon the existing technologies for innovation.
Even though patents may be useful for defensive reasons, malicious use of patents is a threat to the growth and adoption of emerging technologies such as cryptos. Due to this, the Crypto Open Patent Alliance has been launched. This symbolizes an invitation for everyone in the crypto space to join the alliance to address their issues.
The alliance deals with the patent lockup issue through a dual approach. First of all, the alliance members, which include Jack Dorsey of course, have pledged not to use their crypto patents against anyone unless for defensive purposes, thereby making the patents freely accessible for everyone to use.
Additionally, the alliance also creates a shared patent library that allows every member to pool their crypto patents to form a collective shield of patents. This enables all members to defend themselves against patent aggressors. By doing this, everyone’s patent is democratized, empowering even the smallest companies to protect themselves.
As more members are welcomed and pledge that they will not offensively use their patents against others, patent litigation’s overall threat is significantly lowered.
Patent ownership is the best deterrent to shield against aggressors even though not every company owns or accesses patents. The shared patent library offers this shield, which gets bigger and stronger as more members come in. Regardless of their size, whether they own the patents or not, the whole community will benefit.
This organization will transform the way patents are viewed and used in the crypto space. The expectation is that it will help patents contribute to improved innovation and crypto advancement instead of operating as hurdles. Jack Dorsey aims to evolve as time goes, and everyone within the crypto space is urged to join so that the mission is achieved.
