Twitter’s IPA Part of Conversation on Patent Protection and Its Use

Twitter recently launched version 1.0 of the Innovator’s Patent Agreement or “IPA.”  The IPA is meant to establish a standard, but evolving, document that companies can sign on to in order to clearly establish how company developed patents will be maintained and used.

A couple of key points covered by the IPA include the following:

·                    The company agrees not to bring any claims of one or more patents except for “Defensive Purposes”; and

·                    The IPA grants inventors, often employees of the company, a license enabling them to grant non-exclusive sublicenses.

Twitter has agreed to adopt the IPA overall with respect to its patenting practices, but companies can also elect to adopt the agreement on a case by case basis depending upon its circumstances and business models.  Generally speaking, the purpose of the document is to help foster more open and innovative development, especially in the software community and to help shape the discussion related to the current state of the patenting process and act as a means to slow down and counter the effects of “patent trolls” or non-practicing entities.

Some have expressed reservations about the various carve outs and ambiguities present in the document including the agreement’s definition of “Defensive Purposes,” which includes the right to bring claims against entities that (i) file, maintain, threaten or voluntarily participate in a patent suit against the company, (ii) file, maintain, threaten or voluntarily participate in a patent suit against anyone in the past ten years, unless brought defensively, and those suits  (iii) brought to deter a patent litigation threat against the company, users, affiliates, customers, suppliers or distributors.  One can imagine the broad interpretation that can be used in conjunction with deterring a patent litigation.

In any event, Twitter’s initiative makes a substantive contribution to the ongoing discussion regarding the proper role of intellectual property and the way its protection and use should be maintained and, when necessary, enforced.

The actual IPA can be found here.  In addition, a comprehensive piece on the IPA can be read at Jolt Digest of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology.