i3 - July/August 2016 - 35

By Bronwyn Flores

Policy

FAC E S O F I N N OVAT I O N

Patrick Sullivan, CEO, Source3
What public policies affect you as
a startup?
I see trademark as a challenge on the
policy side for technology companies.
There are no Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protections for people
utilizing trademarks and brand IP. DMCA
takedown services help protect online
marketplaces where there aren't currently any trademark policy procedures
for the online marketplace. That has been
a common topic that companies address
in Washington. Regardless of the policy,
we believe there is a way to help protect
online marketplaces from a sensible
licensing perspective.

he Maker Movement is a growing segment within the
tech industry representing do-it-yourself enthusiasts -
think coding meets 3D printing meets Etsy. And within
this space, startups and early adopters are still navigating the intellectual property and copyright landscape for their new
products and services. Source3 is an IP recognition and licensing
company with the goal of "taking the
ized goods and on-demand manufacturing.
pain out of licensing and intellectual
We spoke with Sullivan about the growth
property for online marketplaces," says
of his IP-focused startup and the policy
CEO Patrick Sullivan.
hurdles the company has
Sullivan, along with the
faced along the way.
three other founders
We believe
of Source3, met while
What makes Source3
there is a way
working for RightsFlow,
unique?
to protect online At its core, Source3 is a
a tech-licensing company that was acquired
data-driven company orgamarketplaces
by Google in 2011. Their
nizing the world's IP assofrom a senteam at RightsFlow solved
sible licensing ciated with user products.
user-generated content
The idea is that there is a
perspective.
licensing challenges for
smarter way to license and
YouTube, which is now
we want people to know
also owned by Google.
we are organizing this data.
Sullivan and his team at Source3 are
We believe organizing IP and data can help
tackling IP challenges "anywhere the user
enable marketplaces to scale by helping
becomes the creator and seller of prodlicensed accounts pay trademark and copyucts" including in 3D printing, personalright owners. That's the key.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

How can the government encourage
a startup culture?
We are seeing a little bit of it now with programs such as CES on The Hill, which a lot
of folks in Washington have been embracing. In the maker market community we
are finding more people ready to listen and
understand how people create products.
During my tenure at Google, we worked
a bit with policymakers. Fast forward
now to Source3 and we are seeing an
understanding among policymakers about
how YouTube has created a model where
Source3 can offer support.
I don't have a particular policy position
on trademark, but I know getting parties to the table - whether it's the brand
licensing content or the marketplace that
needs the license - is a sensible way to
work together rather than the traditional
cease and desist.
What's next for Source3?
In March, we went live with our IP recognition licensing system. It's getting marketplaces and brands comfortable with
the idea that they can use a YouTube-type
licensing system for online personalized
goods. We're getting market adoption and
signing clients as we speak. We're showing
that there is a better way than litigating
and everyone can win when licensing IP. n
JULY/AUGUST 2016

http://source3.io/ http://CTA.tech/i3

i3 - July/August 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - July/August 2016