SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intertrust Technologies Corporation today announced PatentShield, a novel intellectual property program designed to assist startup companies to defend against patent litigation threats. Administered by Intertrust’s venture organization, PatentShield makes a large selection of patents available via a defensive portfolio that is curated by Intertrust. Startups that join PatentShield can take ownership of patents from this portfolio for defensive purposes in the event that they are sued for patent infringement. In addition, member startups can also benefit from access to IP strategy planning guidance from Intertrust’s world class IP team. Google Inc. joins Intertrust in launching PatentShield as a patent contributor. Intertrust and Google have seeded a large number of patents to establish a diverse and effective collection of patent assets for the PatentShield portfolio.
As startups expand, larger companies – with sizeable budgets and patent portfolios – often use patent litigation to create an uneven playing field to threaten them in response. These lawsuits often drain startups of their funds and threaten to put them out of business. While startups can be very innovative, they seldom possess a material patent portfolio of their own, thus making it difficult to defend against such maneuvers. PatentShield helps level the playing field and creates a powerful deterrent to these tactics.
“We designed PatentShield to protect innovators,” said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust’s chief executive officer. “We have direct experience with our venture portfolio companies being threatened in the past and conceived of this program in response. With PatentShield, startups can have additional peace of mind to grow while minimizing the threat from an un-defended flank.”
Intertrust joins forces with Google to seed the PatentShield, collecting patents owned by both companies, some of which were acquired from major research labs at Fortune 500 companies.
“We are delighted to support PatentShield, which provides a targeted way to protect new and innovative businesses as they grow,” said Allen Lo, Google’s Deputy General Counsel, Patents. “The program extends the array of initiatives Google has developed to help reduce frivolous litigation in the technology space.”
Startups can request to join PatentShield by filling out an application at www.intertrust.com/patentshield. The program has strict requirements on the development stage of the candidate company and their role in their markets. Companies that are accepted to the program provide a small equity grant to PatentShield. In addition to accessing the defensive patent portfolio, the startup can also benefit from strategic consulting in developing and growing their own patent portfolios.
More information about joining PatentShield can be found at www.intertrust.com/patentshield.
About Intertrust Technologies Corporation
Intertrust provides trusted computing products and services to leading global corporations – from mobile and CE manufacturers and service providers to enterprise software platform companies. These products include the world’s leading digital rights management, software tamper resistance and privacy-driven data platforms for ad tech, DNA storage and IoT.
Founded in 1990, Intertrust is based in Silicon Valley, with regional offices in London, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The Company has a legacy of invention, and its fundamental contributions in the areas of computer security and digital trust are globally recognized. Intertrust holds hundreds of patents that are key to Internet security, trust, and privacy management components of operating systems, trusted mobile code and networked operating environments, web services, and cloud computing.
Additional information is available at intertrust.com, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
About Google (a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.)
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
