LOT Network
The LOT (License on Transfer) Network is a nonprofit organization that was formed to combat patent assertion entities (PAEs), also known as patent trolls, by cross-licensing patents that fall into the hands of PAEs. Background LOT started as a Canon, Google and Red Hat-led initiative in 2014, and its founding members were mostly technology companies. Companies from other industries such as finance and automotive have joined the network to protect themselves from the growing threat of PAEs. As of August 2024, LOT Network had more than 4,300 members and 4.5 million patent assets. Notable members of LOT include Google, Red Hat, Uber, Ford, Dropbox, Mazda, General Motors, Honda, CBS, Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, SAP, Microsoft, Tesla, Alibaba, the Wikimedia Foundation, and IBM. The number of patent disputes in the U.S. peaked in 2015, reaching 7,500 cases. According to Unified Patents, two-thirds of these cases were filed by patent trolls. A study out of Boston University fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or social benefit, as opposed to an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a Profit (accounting), profit for its owners. A nonprofit organization is subject to the non-distribution constraint: any revenues that exceed expenses must be committed to the organization's purpose, not taken by private parties. Depending on the local laws, charities are regularly organized as non-profits. A host of organizations may be non-profit, including some political organizations, schools, hospitals, business associations, churches, foundations, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives. Nonprofit entities may seek approval from governments to be Tax exemption, tax-exempt, and some may also qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, but an enti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The early 1980s and home computers, rise of personal computers through software like Windows, and the company has since expanded to Internet services, cloud computing, video gaming and other fields. Microsoft is the List of the largest software companies, largest software maker, one of the Trillion-dollar company, most valuable public U.S. companies, and one of the List of most valuable brands, most valuable brands globally. Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by Windows. During the 41 years from 1980 to 2021 Microsoft released 9 versions of MS-DOS with a median frequen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high tech, high-tech and Startup company, startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $25 million. Following the 2015 Verizon Communications#Acquisition of AOL and Yahoo, acquisition of AOL and Yahoo! by Verizon, the site was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021. In 2021, Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo!, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. In addition to its news reporting, TechCrunch is also known for its annual Disrupt conference, a technology event hosted in several cities across the United States, Europe, and China. History TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Barclays
Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces its origins to the goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690. James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, twelve banks in London and the English provinces, including Goslings Bank, Backhouse's Bank and Gurney, Peckover and Company, united as a joint-stock bank under the name Barclays and Co. Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. In 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first cash dispenser. Barclays has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including of London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918, British Linen Bank in 1919, Mercantile Credit in 1975, the Woolwich in 2000 and the North American operations of Lehman Brothers i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet services and artificial intelligence. It holds a dominant position in China's search engine market (via Baidu Search), and provides a wide variety of other internet services such as Baidu App (Baidu's flagship app for search and newsfeed), Baidu Baike (an online user created Wikipedia-like encyclopedia), iQIYI (a video streaming service), and Baidu Tieba (a keyword-based discussion forum similar to Reddit). Besides its core internet search business, Baidu has diversified into several high-growth areas. The company is a leading player in autonomous driving (Baidu Apollo), and smart consumer electronics (Xiaodu). With over a decade of investment in artificial intelligence, Baidu is one of the few tech companies globally to offer a full-service AI stack, including software, chips, cloud infrastructure, foundation models, and applications. The holding company of the group is incorpo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads (social network), Threads, Facebook Messenger, Messenger and WhatsApp. The company also operates an advertising network for its own sites and third parties; , advertising accounted for 97.8 percent of its total revenue. The company was originally established in 2004 as TheFacebook, Inc., and was renamed Facebook, Inc. in 2005. In 2021, it rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc. to reflect a strategic shift toward developing the metaverse—an interconnected digital ecosystem spanning virtual reality, virtual and augmented reality technologies. Meta is considered one of the Big Tech, Big Five American technology companies, alongside Alphabet Inc., Alphabet (Google), Amazon (company), Amazon, Apple Inc., Apple, and Microsoft. In 2023, it was rank ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film ''Steamboat Willie.'' The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cruise (autonomous Vehicle)
Cruise LLC was an American self-driving car company that became a subsidiary of General Motors, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013 by Kyle Vogt and Dan Kan (executive), Dan Kan, Cruise tested and developed autonomous car technology. The company was acquired by General Motors in 2016, and operated as a largely autonomous subsidiary, focusing on producing a fleet of driverless taxis. Following a series of incidents, it suspended operations in October 2023, and Kyle Vogt resigned as CEO in November 2023. The company began returning its vehicles to public roads in May 2024. In December 2024, GM stopped funding Cruise. Work on autonomous vehicles was to be incorporated into development of advanced driver assistance systems for personal vehicles, no longer funding autonomous taxis. History Cruise initially focused on developing direct-to-consumer kits to retrofit vehicles with limited self-driving capabilities. The earlier generation of Cruise technology, RP ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amazon (company)
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington, the company originally started as an online marketplace for books but gradually expanded its offerings to include a wide range of product categories, referred to as "The Everything Store". Today, Amazon is considered one of the Big Tech, Big Five American technology companies, the other four being Alphabet Inc., Alphabet, Apple Inc., Apple, Meta Platforms, Meta, and Microsoft. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including Amazon Web Services, providing cloud computing; Zoox (company), Zoox, a self-driving car division; Kuiper Systems, a satellite Internet provider; and Amazon Lab126, a computer hardware R&D provider. Other subsidiaries include Ring (company), Ring, Twitch (service), Twitch, IMDb, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Network Effect
In economics, a network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the phenomenon by which the Value (economics), value or utility a user derives from a Goods, good or Service (economics), service depends on the number of users of compatible products. Network effects are typically positive feedback systems, resulting in users deriving more and more value from a product as more users join the same network. The adoption of a product by an additional user can be broken into two effects: an increase in the value to all other users (''total effect'') and also the enhancement of other non-users' motivation for using the product (''marginal effect''). Network effects can be direct or indirect. Direct network effects arise when a given user's utility increases with the number of other users of the same product or technology, meaning that adoption of a product by different users is complementary. This effect is separate from effects related to price, suc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbury, Vermont. It was chartered in Boston in 1869. The university is a member of the Association of American Universities and the Boston Consortium for Higher Education. The university has nearly 38,000 students and more than 4,000 faculty members and is one of Boston's largest employers. It offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on three urban campuses. The university is nonsectarian, though it retains its historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston's Fenway–Kenmore and Allston, Massachusetts, Allston neighborhoods, while the Boston University Medical Campus is locate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Unified Patents
Unified Patents is a member-based organization whose goal is promoting innovation by protecting against frivolous patent litigation and reducing the number of non-practicing entity (NPE) patent assertions in specific technology areas. Background Instances of NPE patent litigation have grown recently: NPEs (commonly referred to as patent trolls) accounted for the majority of patent infringement litigation in the U.S. in 2012, compared to less than a quarter in 2007. This is because NPEs can achieve a quick return on investment since most companies settle rather than fight, even if they believe the assertion to be invalid. Unified permits small and large companies alike to become members. Smaller members act as an early warning system by notifying Unified of Patent troll, NPE demand letters in exchange for notifying Unified if they ever plan to sell a Patent to an NPE. Unified defines discrete technology zones for members to join, including cloud storage, content delivery, or elec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |