A patent troll is considered a derogatory term to describe people or companies that misuse patents as a business strategy.
Essentially, a patent troll obtains the patents beings sold at auctions by bankrupt companies attempting to liquidate their assets, or by doing just enough research to prove they had the idea first. They can then launch lawsuits against infringing companies, or simply hold the patent without planning to practice the idea in an attempt to keep other companies productivity at a standstill.
Just by doing my initial research on patent trolls, I had a very negative feeling towards them. They seem to discourage innovation and serve only a single purpose to hurt other companies. Trolls are sometimes also known as non practicing entities, which means that their sole purpose is to hold a patent (without using it for products or services) and then sue other companies for money.
In the next few blogposts I will also be talking more about infringement, trolls, and patent litigations.
I like how you included your opinion on patent trolls. You may want to start off with a broader description though.
ReplyDeleteThis blog seems a bit short. You might want to elaborate on your explanations.
ReplyDeleteHey Michael,
ReplyDeleteI like how you started a series of blog posts about the NPEs by giving an explanation of what are the NPEs and patent trolls. I agree with Matt and Eric's comments that perhaps you can elaborate more on your explanations. Nonetheless, great work!
Hey Michael,
ReplyDeleteI like that you described patent trolls as those who use wrongfully use patents as a business strategy. They should be used to represent someone's intellectual property, but can be taken advantage of by a business perspective. Nice explanation!