Public Patent Foundation  Public Patent Foundation, or PUBPAT, is a non-profit organization that seeks to limit perceived abuse of the United States patent system. It was founded in 2003 by Dan Ravicher. , there was growing concern by many technology professionals over the number of patents granted that are either too trivial to deserve protection, or duplicate existing or expired patents. It usually works by petitioning the United States Patent and Trademark Office to review patents that are suspected of being invalid somehow or another, usually by prior art.