The Pending Patent Problem with Stephan Kinsella & Jed Grant of the Open Crypto Alliance

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Patents help protect the intellectual property of inventors and creators, but on occasion those same creators choose to make their works available to everyone, free of charge. Unfortunately, some predatory entities, known as patent trolls, prey on the users of these technologies through the civil courts. Their latest target? Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, which is why blockchain industry leaders and legal experts - including today’s guests, Stephan Kinsella & Jed Grant - have come together to form the Open Crypto Alliance, a group dedicated to preserving cryptocurrency & bitcoin technology’s open-source origins.</span></p> <p><strong><em>About the Guests:</em></strong><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style= "font-weight: 400;">(Norman) Stephan Kinsella is an attorney and libertarian writer in Houston. He was previously General Counsel for Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., a partner with Duane Morris, and adjunct law professor at South Texas College of Law. A</span> <a href="http://www.kinsellalaw.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">registered patent attorney</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and former adjunct professor at</span> <a href="http://www.stcl.edu/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">South Texas College of Law</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, he received an LL.M. (international business law) from King’s College London-University of London, a JD from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU, and BSEE and MSEE degrees from LSU.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He has spoken, lectured and</span> <a href= "http://www.stephankinsella.com/publications/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">published</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">widely on both legal topics, including intellectual property law and international law, and also on various areas of libertarian legal theory. Libertarian-related publications include</span> <a href= "http://www.stephankinsella.com/2009/07/29/hoppe-festschrift-published/"> <em><span