Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Square has joined the patent protection consortium the Open Invention Network (OIN.) The cross-licensing platform was founded by tech companies including IBM, Sony, and Red Hat in 2005, and allows its members access and use patented technologies from other members. As reported by Bloomberg today, Square said the move is a bid to protect the cryptocurrency industry from a deluge of patent lawsuits of the kind that beset smartphone developers and to promote the growth of the sector. Square is already at the heart of patent evolution; last year it helped form the Cryptocurrency Open Patent ... (full story)