When people hear the word “troll,” they often think of either fantasy books/movies, or someone who goes out of their way to annoy others online. There is a far worse type of troll, however, and that is a patent troll.
A recently coined term, “patent troll” is most often used to refer to an entity that only exists to file patent lawsuits against other companies.
The unfortunate truth is that, while large companies are often the subject of much hatred and derision, whenever a smaller company files a valid patent claim against a larger one, the small company will usually be vilified in the media as a patent troll. This is regardless of whether the patent in question is frivolous, or if it is for groundbreaking technology.
The major problem is that large companies usually don’t have any problem paying out small claims, but they will often fight any way they can to avoid paying out large claims.
The history of patent trolls is often seen to have started 10 years ago, in the case of NTP v. RIM. In that case, a massive settlement was awarded towards NTP, which at the time was miniscule compared to RIM (famous for Blackberry devices), and NTP was classified a patent troll by the media.
In that case, however, things were nowhere close to black-and-white. The lawsuit was filed against RIM, which was so sure that they would win the case that they refused to stop utilizing the patent in question. RIM believed that they weren’t liable under US patent law because their process, which included the patent owned by NTP, partially occurred outside United States borders.
The courts disagreed, and as a result of RIM’s continued use up until the last minute, NTP was awarded an unprecedentedly massive settlement. NTP was vilified in the media as a patent troll, and the rest is history.
The patent system was originally instituted in order to protect individuals and foster invention. While it is always possible that the system will be abused, there is always more to the story than first meets the eye, and it is always worth investigating.