Patent Trolls: Lucrative but Questionable

At this point in time, patent trolls are earning double the money in payouts and settlements in their patent cases than those that actually utilize their patents. This says something about the popularity of patent trolling. This trend is on the rise, and for an understandable reason: the payout. For almost nothing, patent trolls simply sit back and scope out potential victims. These “victims” are companies that are profitable enough to be worthwhile to pursue on the basis of copyright infringement. By suing for infringement, the patent troll is hoping to settle with the company for a large sum of money on the assumption that the company has no choice but to pay the patent troll a smaller sum to avoid a multi-million dollar lawsuit cost. Because of this rising trend, those supporting patent reform stress that it is important to put an end to patent trolling, which is clearly abuse of the United States legal system. Patent laws are in place to support innovation and protect inventors from anyone stealing their idea. Instead, they are being used against innovative companies in an almost ransom-like tactic of threatening an expensive lawsuit if their settlement price is not met. Tyler, Texas in particular has become a haven for patent troll companies. These companies devote 100% of their resources to purchasing patents for as cheaply as possible, then using them against any company they can find to force a payout.