Odaily Planet Daily News Cryptocurrency advocacy organization Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and patent-focused organization Unified Patents announced the launch of "Blockchain Zone", an activity targeting patents under the control of non-practicing entities (NPEs), covering a range of technologies such as NFTs, wallets, smart contracts, etc. COPA said the partnership aims to protect blockchain companies and developers from "baseless and costly" legal claims by patent trolls (ie NPEs), who take advantage of high litigation costs to negotiate solutions. These entities aim to profit from licensing patents or suing people who use patents without permission, but 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 were against technology companies. (Cointelegraph)