An NPE does one of the following things:
- Purchases a patent, often from a bankrupt firm, and then sues another company by claiming that one of its products infringes on the purchased patent
- Enforces patents against purported infringers without itself intending to manufacture the patented product or supply the patented service
- Enforces patents but has no manufacturing or research base
- Focuses its efforts solely on enforcing patent rights
- Asserts patent infringement claims against non-copiers or against a large industry that is composed of non-copiers
So basically...
A patent troll enforces a patent.
The negative parts:: a patent troll is a term given to a person or company who misuses the patent system. Their business strategy is to buy a patent and then either:
A patent troll enforces a patent.
The negative parts:: a patent troll is a term given to a person or company who misuses the patent system. Their business strategy is to buy a patent and then either:
a.) launch lawsuits against infringing companies
b.) hold the patent without planning to use it in an attempt to obstruct another company from using it as well
The practice by a patent troll is seen as an unethical and immoral business strategy. It forces us to see the flaws in the current patent system, especially that in the United States. And most importantly, it reduces innovation and productivity.
The positive parts:: the patent system is upheld. patent trollers make a living! Someone has to enforce it, especially when the "little guys - the inventors of a patent" cannot fight against the bigger companies who are using their patent. The patent trolls do give revenue/shares to these inventors if they win a case.
The positive parts:: the patent system is upheld. patent trollers make a living! Someone has to enforce it, especially when the "little guys - the inventors of a patent" cannot fight against the bigger companies who are using their patent. The patent trolls do give revenue/shares to these inventors if they win a case.
I like how concise this post was and how you listed by numbers the various activities that patent trolls do. I enjoyed the graphical representation of a patent troll as well. I think you could add more detail about the history of patent trolls and what they are doing currently. Overall great job!
ReplyDeleteI like this post because you really did a great job of explaining what a patent troll is. Sometimes its difficult to understand something but you did a great job of breaking it down. Your case study was also a good addition since it allowed us to see a patent troll in action.
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