Complexities and Example of NPEs
This blog post will outline the complexities and some
examples of NPEs.
To start things off, I just want to highlight the
current trend that involves NPEs. Patent lawsuits involving NPEs have increased
dramatically over the last decade, by an average of 22% per year since 2004.
IPwatchdog.com writes that it can be hard to define a patent troll and
sometimes – “No one really knows what a patent troll is. The website writes
that the anti-patent people do not want it defined too precisely because if it
were defined, it would include “all major U.S. universities (that manufacture
no products), most individual inventors (who have not yet gotten their
inventions funded), most startup companies (that have not yet gone to market),
and most bankrupt companies.”
This suggests that patent trolls can refer to any entity that wants to
earn revenue primarily through the enforcement of its patents or any company or
entity who may be planning on developing a produce but have not amassed the
required resources to do so. So, defining what a patent troll is can be
problematic because it encompasses a lot of possible entities, some of which
are likely to have positive benefits.
NPEs have been acquiring patents and asserting infringement for more
than a decade. Today, there are more than 900 active NPEs and as their numbers
have grown so has the pool of operating companies being targeted for patent
litigation. In 2008, 1,600 operating companies were embroiled in NPE lawsuits.
By 2011, the number of defendants had grown more than two-fold to nearly 2,400.
Many of these defendants are facing repeated assertions; some operating
companies were named in more than 50 suits in 2012 alone.
It seems like the number of NPEs will continue to grow because in today’s
knowledge based economy, where most companies benefit from intellectual
property advantages, will create an environment in which more and more patents
are filed, some of which will come from NPEs.
Sources:
http://www.rpxcorp.com/patent-risk/npe-impact/
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/non-practicing-entity-NPE
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteNice work on this blog. You clearly had a great understanding of the complexities of Non Practicing Entities. I think the increasing amount of defendants over the recent years is on point. Great job and I will see you in class.
Hi Sean! Great blog post. You did an amazing job describing NPEs and clearly describe how difficult it is to classify patent trolls and how the number of patent litigation suits are on the rise in the last couple of years.
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