GNOME Patent Troll Defense Fund has nearly 4,000 donors!

[Molly de Blanc <mdeblanc gnome org>]

A lot has happened since our announcement that Rothschild Imaging Ltd is alleging that GNOME is violating one of their patents. We wanted to provide you with a brief update of what has been happening over the past few weeks.

Legal cases can be expensive, and the cost of a patent case can easily reach over a million dollars. As a small non-profit, we decided to reach out to our community and ask for financial support towards our efforts to keep patent trolls out of open source. More than 3,800 of you have stepped up and contributed to the [GNOME Patent Troll Legal Defense Fund][1]. We'd like to sincerely thank everyone who has donated. If you need any additional documentation for an employer match, please contact us at <info gnome org>.

[1]: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/gnome-foundation-inc/gnome-patent-troll-defense-fund

Individuals aren't the only supporters of this initial fundraiser. The Debian Project [generously reached out with a donation][2] and [Igalia also donated to support our legal efforts][3].

[2]: https://bits.debian.org/2019/10/debian-donates-support-gnome-patent-defense.html

[3]: https://www.igalia.com/2019/11/04/GNOME-Foundation-Fundraising-Effort.html

There's been a wonderful outpouring of support from the free and open source software communities. The Software Freedom Conservancy [issued a statement][4]. Meanwhile the Open Invention Network is [lending a hand in the search for examples or prior art][5].

[4]: https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2019/oct/23/shotwellsuit/

[5]: https://www.zdnet.com/article/open-invention-network-comes-to-gnomes-aid-in-patent-troll-fight/

We set ourselves an ambitious fundraising goal of $1.1 million to support our defense. We expect the majority of this to be raised from corporate sponsorship, but we're going to keep working for more individual and community donations. Please share our [GiveLively donation page][6] with your social media networks. If you're a non-profit that has issued (or is is interested in issuing) a statement of support, we'd love to [hear from you][7]. 

[6]: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/gnome-foundation-inc/gnome-patent-troll-defense-fund

[7]: info gnome org

Thank you so much for your support!

Cheers,

Molly 

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Molly de Blanc

Strategic Initiatives Manager

GNOME Foundation

she/her

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Molly de Blanc
Strategic Initiatives Manager
GNOME Foundation
she/her