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• bcohen

  

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  Posts: 260

  @CryptoDefense

  I would like to talk to them about their IP Strategy going forward.

  CoinSigner seems like it could be a good match.

  This will be very interesting to hear updates in this regards. Definitely keep me/us posted on the first company to become part of your patent portfolio.

  Brian

  Posted on July 5, 2014 at 4:21 PM
  Last Edited: July 5, 2014 at 4:22 PM
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• CryptoDefense

  

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  Posts: 6
  Location: Spokane, WA

  @bcohen

  After researching more I think I have got most of the story now. Hearn's anger might be justified. The USPTO has a very good system for sorting out these kinds of prior art disputes. If Hearn's claims were correct, it may have just been a waste of money for CoinSigner to try to move forward with their patent.

  On the other hand, maybe CoinSigner does things a bit differently than Hearn proposed. They may have had some novel and unobvious subject matter in their application which may have been patentable, albeit narrower than the original application/idea. We'll never know.

  One thing I do know: Hearn did not envision all aspects of all possible future embodiments of all decentralized dispute resolutions systems. He didn't invent everything. Others will innovate in this space and produce patentable subject matter. It's a foundational truth of technological advancement.

  From this facebook thread It seems like CoinSigner might have been a victim of bullying rather than making a wise and informed business decision based on the merits of their application. In the future, I hope that companies like CoinSigner will have a trusted community support system to advise them on IP-related issues.

  If you hear of any other companies facing similar challenges, please point them our direction.

  Posted on July 5, 2014 at 4:44 PM
  Last Edited: July 5, 2014 at 4:45 PM
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• shemnon

  

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  Posts: 10
  Location: Colorado Springs, CO

  Wow, looks like I poked a beehive here. Lots of good fodder for a series of articles or perhaps an interview segment on one of the many LTB podcasts. Here are some questions I have regarding bitcoin and patents.

  1. Satoshi published his bitcoin paper over 5 years ago, does this have any impact on what is patentable? i.e. any idea he expresses in the paper is non-patentable because it was so long ago? IANAL (and I am about to prove it) but isn't there a one year limit on the patentability of an idea once you put it in the public square? Does this extend to the code that he released? IIRC there were some recent chagnes on prior art and first to patent in this arena.

  2. Perhaps an article on liability. Start it with some legal fiction where someone has a patent on the blockchain process or the UTXO ledger format of bitcoin. When would infringement occur and who would be liable?

  3. Lets say I have a burning idea for a bit coin patent. What should/could i do about it Legally, ethically, and morally? Spend $20K of my own money to patent it? Launch a coin with the idea and not file it? Are there patent VCs that just patent ideas for a share of the patent or total control over it? What if it's 1978 and I work at HP in Palo Alto? How about 2014 and I work at HP in Gilroy?

  I am not a lawyer, and if I wrote these articles I would prove why I wasn't. Will the next alt coin be ruled by Proof of Not a Lawyer?

  Posted on July 6, 2014 at 2:33 PM
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