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Google and Intertrust<\/a> today announced the launch of PatentShield<\/a>, a new program that aims to help defend startups from patent litigation \u2014 in return for a stake in those companies.<\/p>\n The basic idea here is to give startups\u00a0that join the program ownership of\u00a0a selection of patents from Google\u2019s and Intertrust\u2019s portfolio that they can then use as a deterrent against potential patent litigation from established players in their\u00a0fields. Google is seeding the program\u00a0with a selection of its own patents and Intertrust, which itself has built up a patent portfolio around media streaming, IoT, security and other areas, will also give these startups access to some of its own patents and its intellectual property team.<\/p>\n If a startup gets sued, it can then choose patents from the PatentShield\u00a0portfolio to defend itself by countersuing its opponents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe program extends the array of initiatives Google has\u00a0developed\u00a0to help\u00a0reduce\u00a0frivolous litigation in the technology space,\u201d said Allen Lo, Google\u2019s Deputy General Counsel for patents in today\u2019s announcement. Indeed, Google has long shown at least some interest in helping others defend themselves from patent litigation. With its Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge<\/a>, for example, the company already pledged that it wouldn\u2019t sue third parties that develop free or open source software\u00a0that potentially infringed on a selection of its patents<\/a>. It\u2019s worth noting, though, that this list of patents hasn\u2019t been updated since 2014.<\/p>\n Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM and others also teamed up<\/a> last year to\u00a0create a new marketplace\u00a0for buying and selling patents.<\/p>\n The most interesting aspect of this new program, though, is that the companies that are accepted into the program\u00a0provide a small equity grant to PatentShield.\u00a0Intertrust tells me that the size of the stake \u201cis a function of the maturity of the company, its products and the litigation risk in their market.\u201d<\/p>\n We have asked Google to clarify its role in this program and if it also plans to take a stake in these companies. We will update this post once we hear more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/google_logo_pipe.jpg?w=680\"){kind=logo}
Google and Intertrust today announced the launch of PatentShield, a new program that aims to help defend startups from patent litigation — in return for a stake in those companies. The basic idea here is to give startups\u00a0that join the program ownership of\u00a0a selection of patents from Google’s and Intertrust’s portfolio that they can then use as a deterrent against… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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