ArtistShare - Patent Dispute

Patent Dispute

On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a request for declaratory judgment against ArtistShare and Fan Funded which owns U.S. patent US 7885887, "Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing a creative work". Brian Camelio, the founder of ArtistShare, is named as the inventor on the patent. KickStarter said it believed it is under threat of a patent infringement lawsuit by ArtistShare. Kickstarter asked that the patent be invalidated, or, at the very least, that the court find that Kickstarter is not liable of infringement. In February 2012, ArtistShare and Fan Funded responded to Kickstarter's complaint by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They asserted that patent infringement litigation was never threatened, that "ArtistShare merely approached KickStarter about licensing their platform, including patent rights", and that "rather than responding to ArtistShare's request for a counter-proposal, Kickstarter filed this lawsuit." The judge has ruled, however, that the case can go forward. ArtistShare has since responded by filing a counterclaim alleging that Kickstarter is indeed infringing its patent.