Patent Trolls Take Note: Vermont Takes A Stand

On Wednesday May 22, 2013, the Vermont Attorney General's Office brought suit against an alleged patent troll, MPHJ Technology Investments, LLC, for violation of Vermont's Consumer Protection Act.  The Vermont AG claims that the troll engaged in "unfair and deceptive acts" by sending numerous, threatening letters via a host of shell companies to small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in Vermont.  The Defendant claims to have a patent on the process of scanning documents and attaching them to email via a network.

At first glance, the suit complains of, among other things, tactics that are fairly commonplace in this arena:

• threatening litigation when the Defendant was neither prepared or likely to bring a litigation;