Patent Trolls Prey On Business Innovation

"Patent Trolls Prey on Business Innovation" was originally published by Intellectual Property Today, May 2008.

Any business discussion of patents and innovation inevitably turns to the subject of "patent trolls." Patent trolls plague companies of every type, often forcing companies to pay hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars or risk much bigger exposure in a lawsuit for patent infringement. "Patent trolls" are people or groups acquiring patents, sometimes from bankrupt firms, not to create new inventions or products, but to generate revenue by suing to enforce the patent. Since the cost of defending a patent infringement suit typically runs well over $1 million, many defendants instead pay for licenses to dubious intellectual property.