DeFi Education Fund (DEF), a decentralised finance (DeFi) platform, has blamed the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), on account of one of the company’s patents being a “patent troll.” The platform has filed a petition against the company for the patent’s scrutiny, as stated by Cointelegraph.
According to Cointelegraph, on September 7, 2023, DEF filed a more than 90 page petition to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. From what it’s understood, the petition aims to nullify a patent of True Return Systems. Through X, Amanda Tuminelli, legal chief, DEF, stated that the patent emphasises on a method of “linking off-chain data to a blockchain.” Reportedly, Tuminelli highlighted that True Return attempted to put the patent up for sale, as a non-fungible token (NFT).
“Clearly [True Return’s] goal was to name defendants who could not answer the complaint so [it] could get a default judgement,” Tuminelli said. Based on Cointelegraph’s data, Tuminelli asserted that True Return would try to pressurise the court’s judgement over token holders, along with more protocols “that either can’t challenge them in court or don’t have the resources to do so.” It’s believed that DEF made the point of True Return’s technology not being new when it’s approved.
Moreover, DEF stated that its USPTO’s petition intends to provide protection around creation and utilisation of open source software. Sources suggest that the petition targets to prevent True Return from charging crypto projects, with assistance towards MakerDAO and Compound’s legal security.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)