Twitter says that patents should not be used to impede
the innovation of others and announced the
implementation of the "Innovator's Patent Agreement" or
IPA.
The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps
control in the hands of engineers and designers. Twitter
described it as a commitment from Twitter to its
employees that patents can only be used for defensive
purposes. Twitter said that it would not use the patents
from employees? inventions in offensive litigation
without their permission. In addition, this control
flows with the patents, so if Twitter sold them to
others, they could only use them as the inventor
intended.
Typically, engineers and designers sign an agreement
with their company that gives that company any patents
filed related to the employee's work. The company then
has control over the patents and can use them however
they want, which may include selling them to others who
can also use them however they want. "With the IPA,
employees can be assured that their patents will be used
only as a shield rather than as a weapon," Adam
Messinger, VP of Engineering at Twitter wrote in a blog.
Twitter will implement the IPA later this year, and it
will apply to all patents issued to the company's
engineers, both past and present.