Week 9 #1: patent troll example against Google and Motorola

In this blog post I will be giving an example of a patent troll case that occurred a little over a year ago.

Patent trolls are everywhere, and one of the biggest one is called Intellectual Ventures. This was a case against Motorola, which was owned by Google. It claimed that Motorola's phone displays, software update system, and other elements infringe on six of Intellectual Venture's thousands of patents.

Meanwhile, Intellectual Ventures claims itself as an "invention marketplace", because it buys up massive amounts of intellectual property and licenses it in bulk. Over the years, as the company built up its portfolio of patents, it became more of a threat than a help.

So in this case, if Google and Motorola wanted to win the case, they would have to convince a jury either that they are not infringing Intellectual Venture's patents, or that those patents are invalid. This could be a long and expensive process, as the court would have to determine what the patents mean and how they can be applied. If Intellectual Venture's patents define a software update tool in terms that don't match with Motorola's system, or if the steps it describes are obvious that anyone could think of them, then IV loses.

This example just made me think more about patent trolls, and how even though the government may be trying to cut them down, there are still giants out there who are targeting the largest tech companies in the industry.