Google wants to protect startups from patent trolls and it plans to give away some of its own patents to help smaller firms defend themselves in the event of a patent litigation.
The Internet search firm is expanding its efforts into the new Patent Starter Program, which evolved from the experimental Patent Purchase Promotion it launched in May, wherein Google bought patents from third parties at a price they set.
The Patent Starter Program builds upon those inorganic patents, or patents Google bought from other parties, and will provide protection against patent-related lawsuits filed by patent trolls, or companies that sue for patent infringement for money even if they do not have their own products or services to sell.
The program is not for everyone, though. Google has set a limit of 50 startup members, and each member must meet the requirement of $500,000 to $20 million in revenue in 2014. Startups that are accepted to the program will be given three to five patent families they wish to have and choose the best two for them to keep for themselves. Google says startups will have to be very thorough when describing their business at application, as Google will not change the patent families if none of them appeals to the members.
Also, members are required to become members of the LOT Network, a network of companies including Google, of course, Dropbox, Canon and others, which aims to provide protection against patent trolls. Membership in the LOT Network costs anywhere between $1,500 and $20,000 per year, depending on the company's revenue, but Google has succeeded in allowing membership fees for the next two years waived for the startups.
As part of the LOT Network, startups are required to release to all other members the license of a patent that they have agreed to license to a third party outside of the network. Google says this is a "great long-term way to help fight against patent trolls."
"Encouraging smaller companies to join the LOT Network is just something that we think makes great sense," Google said [pdf] in its FAQ about the program. "Further, being able to help support smaller companies and developers by providing them patents with the expectation that such companies and developers will grow and further contribute to a responsible patent system seems like a pretty good idea to us."
Of course, Google has installed its own safety nets into the program. For one thing, it is only giving away inorganic patents, not the patents developed in-house by Google. Also, the company will retain licenses to any of the patents it gives away as protection against litigation for itself. Lastly, Google says startups can only use the patents as a form of defense against lawsuits, not as a weapon to file a lawsuit against other companies.
Startups that are interested may file their application with Google and wait for a response within the next 30 days.
Photo: Luis Villa del Campo | Flickr
