Question

Why would eToro apply for patents? Are patents useful as part of an offensive, defensive, or leveraging strategy?

Answer 1

eToro is a social trading and multi-asset brokerage company that focuses on providing financial and copy trading services.It has registered offices in Cyprus, Israel, the United Kingdom,the United States, and Australia. In 2018, the company’s value was $800 million.

eToro was founded as RetailFX in 2007 in Tel Aviv, by brothers Yoni Assia and Ronen Assia together with David Ring.

In 2010, eToro released the eToro OpenBook social investment platform, along with its "CopyTrading" feature.

The eToro trading platform enables investors to view, follow and copy the network's top traders automatically. Later that year, eToro released its first Android app so that investors could buy and sell financial instruments via mobile devices.

In August 2018, eToro announced a sponsorship deal with seven UK Premiership teams including Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Cardiff City F.C., Crystal Palace F.C., Leicester City F.C., Newcastle United F.C. and Southampton F.C

eToro would describe themselves as an accessible trading platform that incorporates a social element into investing. I’d describe them as Facebook for trading

The platform and the wider phenomenon of social investing have been widely covered by mainstream media, including a recent BBC documentary called Traders: Millions by the Minute.

The most unique feature of eToro is probably ‘CopyTrader‘. This allows you to sort through other users and plainly see their trading history, including how much they have made or lost over any given period. If you find someone you like the look of, you can allocate some funds to automatically copy their trades.

patents can be valuable for both offensive and defensive reasons. Used offensively, patents can generate licensing revenue and, sometimes, damages awards via litigation. Patents can also be used defensively to make it less attractive for a competitor to sue for infringement or block a competitor out of a market.

Patents are valuable business assets, and a smart patent portfolio can give your tech company a competitive advantage and add value to your business.

Every tech company should think about what type of patent strategy makes the most sense for them, considering their unique business goals and core strengths.

• An offensive strategy aims to produce sales or licensing revenue by controlling access to valuable technology. As such, “offensive” patent owners are often prepared to actively assert their patents against any and all infringers.
• A defensive strategy aims to protect profit margins and market share by minimizing the risk of being sued by competitors. To that end, “defensive” patent owners are not necessarily looking to actively enforce the rights associated with their patents.

tech startups should seek to obtain:

• Patents that will be respected by competitors or potential acquirers
• Patents that actually cover the company’s products (and/or a competitor’s product) with meaningful breadth
• Disclosures that prevent others from patenting
• Patents that can be enforced in court