Patent protection community surpasses 2,000 membership milestone
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International patent protection community LOT Network has launched a patent sale platform dubbed LOT Patent Marketplace. The platform will be an exclusive marketplace for LOT members to conduct patent sales without the use of traditional patent brokers. LOT hopes that gaining access to patent assets without the use of brokers may be of particular benefit to younger, post-IPO companies that are often in the market for quality patents to help defend their businesses until they are able to develop their own organically.
Having launched with only six members in 2014, LOT Network has experienced growth of more than 100 per cent year over year. The non-profit community – which helps organizations protect themselves against litigation from patent assertion entities (PAEs) – now has more than 2,000 members from 54 countries, accounting for more than 3.5 million patent assets. This includes over 15 per cent of all active, U.S. issued patents among its membership.
With PAEs being responsible for 87% of US high-tech patent litigation, operating companies are spending billions each year litigating and settling with such companies. In 2021 alone, PAEs asserted 1,375 patents in over 2,400 litigations worldwide.
“In seven short years, LOT Network has rapidly transitioned from an experiment of the high-tech industry, to the largest global community of companies solving the PAE issue,” said Ken Seddon, CEO of LOT Network. “Our members have made the same commitment to protect innovation that applies to all of their patents. The LOT agreement preserves the traditional uses of patents, yet grants a license for only those assets falling into the hands of a PAE.”
Over the last year, global start-ups as well as major companies joined LOT Network, from all industries and verticals including finance, banking, automotive, entertainment, blockchain, and more. Innovative companies that have joined over the past year include Bayer, Klarna, FedEx, and Deutsche Telekom.