Patent Trolls in the News
This blog post will outline the relationship
between corporations and patents, specifically how they are being challenged
and how they are overcoming issues with patents.
Patent infringement lawsuits filed by
non-practicing entities, also known as patent trolls, continue to rise in the
U.S. For
example, in 2013, AT&T was
sued for patent infringement by so-called patent trolls a startling
54 times -- more than once a week, according to recent statistics.
Fortune recently published
the 2013 list of top 10 patent troll targets, writes that the top patent
litigation related companies include “AT&T, fighting 70 active cases as of
the publication date. Next in line is Google, which was hit with 43 suits
last year; Verizon, 42; Apple, 41; Samsung and Amazon, which were hit with 39
each; Dell and Sony, hit with 34 each; Huawei, hit with 32; Blackberry, hit
with 31.”
The article in
Howstuffworks writes that “In response to the patent troll threat, large
companies have purchased their own patent portfolios. For example, Apple, Microsoft,
Nokia and others paid $4.5 billion for the patents of
the bankrupt company Nortel. The patents help them to fight
suits and can be used to threaten other companies to ward off litigation.
However, this defensive strategy does little to promote new ideas. It might
even tempt these corporations to engage in troll-like behavior themselves.” I
agree that this can be a good defensive strategy but do not necessarily agree
with the prediction on how it can reduce innovation.
My opinion is that when
companies aquire their own patent portfolios, it will not hinder innovation
because now, the company has access to many patents that it can use to build
and improve upon on. Further, many technology companies need to always innovate
and make new products and patents because that is one of the primary drivers of
their success. Tech companies need to come up with new breakthroughs if they
want to reach the top of the market or remain at the top of the market.
Sources
Sean,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this post as well! I really liked how you looked at all corporations in regards to patents. When I was doing my research as well, I also discovered that large technology companies like Apple, Google, etc are building their own patent portfolios- so it is not just NPEs who do this. I fully agree that getting more patents does not hinder innovation but allows them to build on it. Fantastic post and a great read!
I like that you provided insight on the company side, rather than the patent troll side. I also admire that you used more than one source and incorporated information from a variety of resources.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean,
ReplyDeleteGreat organization of your blog post, starting off with the amount of patent infringement claims each of these large powerful companies face and then leading into your own interpretation of their defensive strategies to combat these attacks by purchasing patents. It is important for companies to try to protect themselves from attacks and be informed of patents that could hurt them and purchase patents for protection.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to see how companies are defending themselves against patent trolls by acquiring their own patent portfolios. It was also astonishing to see how many large companies are affected by a myriad of patent litigation lawsuits each year! Very enlightening post! Great work!
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI loved this post. I feel like you did a good job of making your pint s succinct but still managed to develop an argument around it. I especially liked the points you made about the not hindering innovation.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI like your commentary on patent litigation at the end. I agree - this may not be the biggest issue if tech companies were making huge breakthroughs.
Sasha