Adaptant joins the LOT Network, joining the fight against patent assertion entities
Munich, June 29th, 2018
Adaptant is pleased to announce its membership in the LOT (License on transfer) Network (link), joining the fight against patent assertion entities (PAEs) and strengthening its position against patent trolls.
As a small company working on the cutting edge of technology, Adaptant is especially susceptible to the impact of spurious patent assertion and litigation – over 50% of all companies sued by patent trolls make less than $10 million/year, with over 50% of all patent lawsuits concerning software patents.
The engagement with the LOT network provides an extra layer of defence from spurious litigation involving patent assertion entities and forms a key pillar in Adaptant’s overall IP protection strategy.
Paul Mundt, Managing Director of Adaptant
Besides the risks posed by PAEs, Adaptant has, as an active participant in the Horizon 2020 framework programme, also previously expressed concerns about the risk posed by FRAND licensing and submarine patents in standard-essential patents (SEPs) emerging from government-funded research & innovation activities, specifically highlighting IP-related market barriers for startups and SMEs in the exploitation of project results (link).
In addition to good corporate citizenship, the accession to the LOT network was a logical decision, continuing down the path of non-assertion of patent rights against Open Source projects already committed to through Adaptant’s early strategic engagement in the Open Invention Network (OIN), as well as through supporting initiatives such as the FSFE’s Public Money, Public Code.