One firm believes so. On March 7, Cascades Computer Innovation
LLC (CCI) launched another salvo in the high-tech patent
infringement wars—but not for infringement. Rather, it
sued various smartphone and tablet makers for conspiring not to
negotiate with it. In antirust lingo, defendants entered into a
"concerted refusal to deal." According to the complaint,
the defendants refused to negotiate for a patent license with CCI,
which holds the rights to 38 patents, at least one of which claims
to facilitate the installation and use of applications on
Android-based devices.
CCI is a patent holder who is a "non-practicing
entity" ("NPE"), i.e., someone that does not
manufacture or produce products covered by the patents they own or
control. Sometimes pejoratively referred to as "patent
trolls," NPEs seek to monetize patents by licensing them to
entities that make the products covered by the patent, enforcing
the patent rights through patent infringement actions, or
