PANews reported on October 2 that according to Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency advocacy organization COPA and the patent-focused organization Unified Patents have launched a campaign against "patent trolls" in blockchain and crypto technology. COPA said the collaboration aims to protect blockchain companies and developers from "unreasonable and expensive" legal actions by patent trolls or NPEs, who use the high costs of court litigation to negotiate settlements. Patent trolls or hoarders are entities that hold patents with the goal of profiting from them by licensing or suing those who use patents without permission. They usually do not use the patents themselves. According to Unified Patents, these entities accounted for 58% of all patent lawsuits in the United States last year, and 95% of the time they target technology companies.