In this blog post, I will be discussing patent litigation by Non-Practicing Entities (NPE) sometimes called Trolls.
First, what exactly is a Patent Troll? Investopedia defines a patent troll as a derogatory term used to describe people or companies that misuse patents as a business strategy. In essence, patent trolls utilize patents as legal weapons instead of actually creating new products or ideas. Thus, the patents actually have no intention of progressing through innovation; in fact, the intention is many times the opposite.
When the Patent Office issues patents for broad and non-unique inventions/ideas, patent trolls will send out very threatening letters to people who say are infringing on their patents. These letters are threatening because legal action could be taken unless the person who is being accused infringer pays a licensing fee. The patent troll includes a business model that incorporates a lengthy/expensive litigation process that discourages the accused person from counter-acting.
Non-Practicing Entities are not considered patent trolls when they offer patented technologies to licensees in advance. I found this link really helpful, so please refer to it for any additional information: https://www.eff.org/issues/resources-patent-troll-victims
I hope you all now fully understand all aspects of Patent Trolls. Looking forward to your comments!
Very informative post, Anish! I liked how you not only gave a high-level definition of patent trolls. However, I'd like more information on how Patent Trolls affect the patent world at large. Doing so will help add depth into your analysis and post. With that said, perhaps mentioning about a recent or well-known patent troll / case would help add to your post. And adding some tangible data / statistics would help too! Nonetheless, good job!
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