Taking an important step to reduce risk of patent lawsuits
LOT Network, the international community of the world’s leading high-tech companies committed to protecting its members from costly litigation from patent assertion entities (PAEs, also known as 'patent trolls'), has announced that ByteDance has joined its 1,200 member organisation. In doing so, the company is taking proactive measures to protect itself against potential litigation from PAEs, and inoculating themselves from a pool of over three million patents.
"Innovation is core to the culture at ByteDance, and we believe it’s important to protect our diverse technical and creative community," said Lynn Wu, Director and Chief IP Counsel, Global IP and Digital Licensing Strategy at ByteDance. “As champions for the fair use of IP, we encourage other companies to help us make the industry safer by joining LOT Network. If we work together, we can protect the industry from exploitation and continue advancing innovation, which is key to the growth and success of the entire community."
Beyond research and development, ByteDance is at the forefront of utilising technologies to advance its business model, policies and processes. ByteDance leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other online technologies to create products and services that inspire users' creativity and enrich their lives.
“ByteDance is a great role model for all global, high-tech companies on how to foster and protect innovation, and we’re honored to welcome them into our community," said Ken Seddon, LOT Network CEO. "Their commitment to protecting themselves, and expanding protection to our ever-growing community, with the addition of nearly 10,000 global patent assets, demonstrates a dedication to safeguarding innovation. ByteDance is sending a strong message that innovation should be protected with patents, and that the global powerhouse and the entire LOT Network community should be protected from patent assertion entities.”
With over 3 million patents in the network and counting, the non-profit's membership roster is filled with global tech leaders including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Putting protective measures in place -- like LOT Network membership -- demonstrates a spirit of collaboration with companies worldwide on IP matters. It also further signals that ByteDance is protected from the potential high-cost of patent litigation from PAEs.
ByteDance and all LOT Network members agree that if, and only if, any member’s patent assets fall into the hands of a PAE, the company provides a license to all other network members, thereby immunising them against PAE litigation from those assets. Members retain all other traditional uses of patents – including selling them, or using them to sue other companies.
