Ever thought of patent trolls and
how they can affect your business? No. Let’s find out. Suppose you create an
amazing product through a brilliant idea & the right execution but all of a
sudden you are slapped with a frivolous lawsuit of patent infringement and you
have no idea what they are talking about. Or think of it this way. You created
an amazing app that is running high on android. Your app is paid and you are
rapidly increasing in value but some lawsuit claims that you have used the
payment method without their permission and now you can either pay them a
litigation fee or they can drag it out in court which will affect your
reputation as well as cost you a hell lot of money. And there is a little
option that you have.
A patent troll is type of
business which does not use the patent that it is granted and does not think
about doing anything with the patent but instead goes around buying old patents
and then sue people using those services for far beyond the actual value of the
patent. Patent trolls often do not supply products or manufacture items but
tend to go around business by filing vexatious litigation. This practice is
more common in Europe than in Americas because Europe has a regime that the
loser pays the legal fees upfront whereas in America both the parties pay their
respective legal and other lawyer fees.
The people in this business
register so vague patents that have broad implications that they cannot really
refer to a particular type of invention. And later they go around suing
hundreds of companies claiming that they are in violation of their patent
rights and if they wish to avoid the litigation fee, they can sign upon a
certain licensing fee. Or this may be called extortion in normal terms. These
people go around waiting for startup to get into funding stages and then take
leverage of the fact that if the investors know about the lawsuit, they may shy
away from taking the bait and pass the funding and the businesses are strong
armed to pay what they ask for.
New businesses cannot do much but
they can go for their own patents and if it is axed, they can ask for
reexamination. It might be costly but they must know the disadvantages that
come with not taking this step. Companies need to consider that they need to
protect their intellectual property from day one and thin about the possible
problems and their remedies. They should take legal advice and take the help of
seasoned players.
In order to make the system
efficient, there must be some relaxation in case there is a frivolous suit
against the company. If someone brings a ridiculous claim, there must be some
way to punish them so that it sets an example for the likes of them. There must
be a system where we can examine the patents that were unwisely issued and they
are thrown out. And there must be regular training at the patent office so that
the employees are made aware of the developments in the modern startup sphere.
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