A key tool that promotes innovation by weeding out weak patents that can be weaponized against startups is being scaled back by federal policymakers.
Using her background in cryptography and mathematics, Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O’Bryan set out to challenge the current standard of multifactor authentication used to protect user and company data. Her company, Dapple Security, simplifies the authentication process using biometrics. We had the opportunity to chat with Gadalia about her journey to founding Dapple Security, data privacy policies, and more.
Reverse logistics is managing the redistribution of returned or surplus unsold goods. Amrita Bhasin is working to make reverse logistics a mainstream corporate concept. Through her startup, Sotira, Amrita aims to reduce waste and increase producers’ bottom lines. We sat down with Amrita to discuss her company, her experience raising capital, and working in an industry transitioning directly from pen and paper to AI.
Dunya Analytics is providing digital tools to help businesses measure, manage, and report on biodiversity and nature-related risks. We sat down with their founder and CEO, Megan Pillsbury, to talk about her startup, her experience applying for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, and more.
After a career in the startup ecosystem, Alex Smereczniak knew he wanted to help others along their journey to entrepreneurship. Using his experience franchising his laundry business as an example, Alex co-founded Franzy, a research and matching tool assisting individuals in opening franchises. We had the opportunity to chat with him about his product, the franchise industry, and more.
TLDR: An appeals court is currently considering whether Internet platforms can be held liable when their users are accused of trademark infringement. Redbubble was accused of direct trademark infringement based on the accusation that its users were selling infringing Ohio State products on the platform. A trial court concluded that Redbubble should not be liable in this circumstance, and Engine filed a brief in support of Redbubble’s position on appeal.
The Big Story: New Senate privacy bill misses the mark for startups. A group of Senate Democrats this week unveiled a data privacy bill that would codify heavy-handed rules governing how companies collect, store, and utilize consumer data and could open companies up to bad faith lawsuits, creating unmanageable costs for startups.
The Big Story: FCC proposes unlicensed spectrum boost. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced a proposal this week to reallocate spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, a move that would open up the airwaves for more Wi-Fi. The 5.9 GHz band is currently reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle communications but has largely been unused for its intended purpose. Chairman Pai’s proposal would reallocate the lower 45 MHz for unlicensed use while setting the upper 40 MHz aside for vehicle safety purposes.
Salt Lake City is the original home of Mobius Audio, a music-focused startup that is using the latest technology to create a multidimensional sound platform for recording artists while teaching them to function as their own businesses. Carter Pochynok, the founder of Mobius, is using his background in music to guide the emerging company through its seed funding stage as it looks to establish itself on an international scale. We recently caught up with Carter to discuss his policy concerns, Mobius’ work and future, and what lawmakers can do to better support U.S. entrepreneurs.
TLDR: The Supreme Court last week took up a copyright case and is hopefully poised to resolve issues about the copyrightability and permissible use of software interfaces next year. The case in question arose from a long-running dispute between Oracle and Google about one type of software interface—application programming interfaces, or APIs. Without the Supreme Court’s intervention, there is a risk that companies will copyright APIs or other interfaces, and then be able to prevent other companies from using them without paying for a license.
Last week, Engine and the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in response to the agency’s call for comments on patenting artificial intelligence inventions. The USPTO is collecting information to determine “whether further guidance is needed to promote the predictability and reliability of patenting [AI] inventions and to ensure that appropriate patent protection incentives are in place to encourage further innovation in and around this critical area.”
Consumer privacy has been on the minds of companies, regulators, and consumers in the wake of high-profile privacy missteps by major Internet companies and sweeping new privacy rules in Europe. While the U.S. approaches consumer privacy law on a sector-by-sector basis, states are using the momentum around the consumer privacy debate to pass their own varying — and sometimes conflicting — laws.
The Big Story: House panel examines big tech's impact on small businesses. The House Small Business Committee held a hearing yesterday to examine big tech’s impact on small businesses, with lawmakers bringing in witnesses from large tech companies, small retailers, and nonprofit organizations to discuss the benefits and challenges of large online platforms.
The fate of up to 800,000 individuals and their ability to live and work in the United States will be decided in the coming months, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday for the consolidated cases challenging the Trump Administration’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While the justices appeared split in their questioning, the outcome of this case will not just have ramifications for the recipients and their communities, but also stands to impact the desirability of the United States as a destination for high-skilled workers to put their skills and entrepreneurial initiative to the test.
SGNT is working to address a critical global concern from their homebase in Tucson, Arizona. The tech startup, founded in 2017, has developed an exciting new hardware and software suite to ensure the secure transport of goods and pharmaceuticals around the world. Emil Tremblay, SGNT’s co-founder and CEO, recently took the time to give us some insights into the company and how it got started.
Engine submitted comments to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law following the panel’s October 29th hearing on competition in labor markets.
TLDR: Startups are keeping a close watch as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. Access to talent is vital to the success of startups, and numerous studies have shown that immigrants make important contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Policies and decisions that suggest the U.S. is a bad place for immigrants—like a ruling against the DACA policy—would be bad for the startup community.
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. changes the framework for appointing and removing certain patent office officials—the Administrative Patent Judges (APJs). APJs serve on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board which, among other functions, can take a “second look” at weak or overbroad patents that previously issued, and invalidate claims that should not have issued in the first place. Instead of challenging a low-quality patent in federal court, which takes multiple years and millions of dollars, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board can consider a limited scope of validity challenges in less than 18 months and for a fraction of the cost. Therefore, it is a more accessible place for startups to go to challenge weak patents they are accused of infringing, and has the ancillary benefit of increasing overall patent quality and making the abusive patent litigation business less profitable.
The Big Story: Lawmakers scrutinize Chinese social media app TikTok. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on Tuesday to examine how technology companies might be exposing user data to “criminals, China, and other bad actors,” with lawmakers spending much of the time lambasting popular social media app TikTok for not sending a representative to testify before the panel.
Move over, Houston. Another Texas city is making waves in space. Kubos is bringing outer space down to earth in Denton, Texas with open source software solutions for satellite mission control. We spoke with Kubos’ CEO and co-founder, Marshall Culpepper, to get some insight into his exciting company and the Denton startup ecosystem.
The Big Story: The importance of small business exports. A new study released this week highlighted how American small businesses have successfully leveraged the explosive growth of the digital economy over the past several decades to make significant contributions to the U.S. economy.
Chicago has the highest concentration of female-led startups in the United States, with more than one-third of the city’s startups run by women. One of these successful women-run businesses is Cloche Invest, a recently launched investment platform focused on helping millennial women grow their wealth. Ari Carter, the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Cloche Invest, saw that current investment platforms were not adequately catering to the needs of young women. Together with her Co-Founder, Peyton Pritikin, Ari is focused on creating a new generation of financially independent women.
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