Local entrepreneurs prompt court to hit pause on Kansas ‘patent troll’ rules
November 29, 2016 | Bobby Burch
A U.S. District Court of Kansas is collecting more public input on proposed legal rule changes after area entrepreneurs expressed concerns that the measures could make the area a haven for “patent trolls.”
Patent trolls are non-practicing entities that purchase broadly defined patents with the intention to sue growing companies that are developing tangentially related products. The court recently extended the commenting period for the rule changes, which detractors say help patent trolls by creating policies that offer them more time to prepare a case.
Detractors of the proposed rules contend that the policies are plaintiff-friendly, and offer suing parties an advantage over those being sued.
“Our community is at risk of becoming known as a place that crushes startups — not encourages them,” Free State Strategy founder Melissa Roberts wrote in a recent op-ed in Startland News. “Our startup community has an opportunity to step up and make a difference for growing businesses across the country, and we’ve got four days to do it.”
In addition to directly contacting the court to make comments on the changes, a few dozen people in the area have signed a petition to encourage different rules for the court. The petition aims to “encourage the court to adopt rules that create a level playing field for startups facing attack from patent trolls,” it reads.
“Patent-trolling has a devastating effect on new business starts and entrepreneurial growth,” wrote Jeff Shackelford, director of Digital Sandbox KC. “Sustainable, healthy and growing economies are dependent on a strong entrepreneurial economy.”
For those interested in voicing their thoughts on the rule change, write thoughtful emails and address them to clerk Tim O’Brien at ksd_clerks_kansascity@ksd.uscourts.gov
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Scared away from networking events? Anti-social introverts can turn to tech
Networking strength comes in numbers — even for anti-social introverts, Jeremy A. Smith told a crowd Tuesday at Global Entrepreneurship Week. “Anti-social people, myself included, hate events,” he said. But like all other entrepreneurs, such introverts still must build and maintain actionable professional networks from which they can request and receive value, Smith said. In-person networking…
Longfellow Farm coworking the soil amid KC’s urban food desert
In a city ripe with coworking office spaces, there’s a hunger for similar environments outdoors, Ami Freeberg said. As with maintaining individual workplaces, traditional urban farming also can be isolating and expensive, the Longfellow Farm manager said. By working together, however, the collaborative process allows for shared resources, greater human expertise and, of course, more…
Procrastinating? Eat the frog, don’t chase the squirrels
On the metal wall in front of my desk, I’ve magnetically fastened a famous recommendation from Mark Twain. “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day,” the humorist from Missouri wrote. Though it can become an aspiration rather than a rule,…
KCultivator Q&A: ‘Fashionpreneur’ Jordan Williams on starting with nothing but his smile
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Check out our features on Plexpod founder Gerald Smith, innovation coach Diana Kander, Victor & Penny’s Erin McGrane, SEED Law’s Adrienne Haynes, Code Koalas’ Robert Manigold, Prep-KC CEO Susan Wally and community builder Donald Carter. Jordan…