A mutual defense alliance to protect companies against so-called “patent trolls,” known as the LOT Network, announced the addition of four more members on Wednesday, including the car maker Daimler and the online learning service Udemy.
The network, which began in 2014 as a Google initiative, works as a non-aggression pact that involves members putting conditions on their patents that limit their use by trolls, which are shell companies whose only business is using patents to sue or demand licensing fees from productive companies.