Google's has opened a new front in its war on patent trolls: the company is giving away patents to fifty eligible startups.
The Google Patent Starter Program will attempt to help the startups navigate the complex and time-consuming task of managing patents as well as the risk of patent trolls attacking them. Under the scheme, participants will be given two patent families that they have chosen from a selection of three to five that Google has decided is relevant to the startup.
The new program ties in with Google's support of the LOT Network, a tech-industry initiative that was set up last year to protect members from patent troll litigation. The members, which include SAP, Uber, Dropbox, GitHub, Mazda, Redhat, Canon, and others, receive a license to protect them when patents are transferred out of the LOT Network, which currently has 325,000 patents. The cost of membership ranges between $1,500 to $20,000 based on a company's annual revenue.
