Microsoft said that it is donating 500 patents to startups in the LOT Network.
The LOT Network has about 400 members, including companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, SAP, Epic Games, Ford, GM, Lyft and Uber. The organization is created to protect members against patent trolls, by providing them the access to a wide library of patents from other members and sources.
"The LOT Network is really committed to helping address the proliferation of intellectual property lawsuits, especially ones that are brought by non-practicing entities, or so-called trolls," said Microsoft CVP and Deputy General Counsel Erich Andersen.
This program however, goes beyond the basic protection against patent trolls.
Qualified startups who join the LOT Network can benefit from Microsoft's patents, as part of their free membership, and own the patents outright. Overall, the LOT Network can provide its startup members with up to three patents each with its library of patent collections.
According to Andersen:
To qualify, startups have to meet a $1,000 per month Azure spend.
The patents here cover a wide range of technological as well as geographies, as Andersen noted, they include U.S. patents as well as European and Chinese patents, for example.
"The hope we have is that when they approach LOT, they’ll find patents among those 500 that are going to be interesting to basically almost any company that might want a foundational set of patents for their business."
As part of the extended Azure IP Advantage program, every Azure customer who spent more than $1,000 per month over the past three months but has not filed any patent infringement lawsuit against another Azure customer in the last two years, can automatically choose one of the patents in the program’s portfolio to protect itself against patent lawsuits from trolls.
There are about 10,000 parents to choose from, and they are are from a different library of patents from the one Microsoft is donating to the LOT Network as part of the startup program.
As Andersen noted, the team looked at how it could enhance the IP program by focusing on a number of specific areas.
Microsoft that invests heavily on IoT wants to extend the program's reach by embracing more companies, regardless of whether their product uses Microsoft technology or not, as long as they are using Azure.
"... then we’re going to provide this patent pick right to help customers defend themselves against patent suits," continued Andersen.
In the modern days of the internet where IoT businesses are starting to thrive, patent trolls are already acquiring a lot of IoT patents. There are chances that these trolls are making themselves ready to use them against companies to get money.
To prevent customers in having the bitter experience of intellectual property lawsuits, especially startups that are just getting traction, "The early signs we’re seeing indicate that this is something that customers are going to care about in the future," said Andersen.
