The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) is a non-profit community of like-minded people and companies formed to encourage the adoption and advancement of cryptocurrency technologies and to remove patents as a barrier to growth and innovation. COPA acknowledges that cryptocurrency technology is built on the collaborative efforts of a community made up of developers, engineers, and designers. The success of cryptocurrency is a direct result of the community coming together to build and develop upon existing technologies for the benefit of all, and we believe COPA will help this happen.
Crypto organizations have filed for hundreds of patents on cryptocurrency technology and continue to do so in large numbers, causing some concerns:
1/ Locking up foundational cryptocurrency technologies in patents stifles innovation and the adoption of these technologies in new and improved applications.
2/ While patents are useful defensively and can serve as a lawsuit deterrent, misguided and offensive use of patents by bad actors threatens the growth and free availability of cryptocurrency technologies. Many crypto companies do not own patents and are unable to adequately deter or defend against these bad actors.
How COPA
Works
COPA provides an open patent strategy to address these concerns. Anyone can join and benefit from COPA, regardless of whether they have patents or not. There is no barrier to entry – members can be individuals, start-ups, small companies, or large corporations. This is how COPA works:
COPA members pledge never to use their crypto-technology patents against anyone, except for defensive reasons, effectively making their patents freely available for all to use.
COPA Leadership
COPA will be governed by a board of nine members – three members from the crypto and open source community who work towards making crypto better and available for everyone, and six members from member companies. We will appoint board members based on interest level and diversification in terms of technology, company size, etc.
COPA is Free
COPA is free for general members. If you would like to support COPA's operating costs and get promotional consideration, please consider an optional platinum membership at $20,000 annually. You can learn more by emailing membership @ opencrypto org.
