Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Square has become part of the Open Invention Network (OIN), the biggest patent protection consortium that was founded by the likes of IBM, Red Hat, and Sony all the way back in 2005, Bloomberg reports.
The goal is to avoid patent troll fights within the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry.
Alex DovbnyaSquare’s counsel Max Sills points to the fact that many crypto developers are at risk of lawsuits over intellectual property rights:
We’re in just such a rapid time of growth, so many amazing things are happening without patents. We want to avoid long-drawn-out legal battles.
Last September, Square also formed the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), which boasts such prominent members as Ark and Coinbase.
As reported by U.Today, the COPA took self-proclaimed Satoshi Craig Wright to court over his claim that he owns the leading cryptocurrency’s white paper.
Vladislav Sopov
Denys Serhiichuk
Dan Burgin