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→Patent Trolls
==Patent Trolls==
Patent Trolls are an innovation bogeymen. Numerous research articles and legislation have been focused on ways to curb troll activity, making patent trolls one of the most publicly denounced issues in the patent system. Experts dispute terms for such corporations, labeling them as either Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) or Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs). PAEs are defined by the FTC as companies that earn revenue by purchasing patents and accusing companies using those patented technologies of infringement.[https://www.ftc.gov/policy/studies/patent-assertion-entities-pae-study] NPEs are firms that rely on Patent Licensing activities for revenue. [http://www.unifiedpatents.com/news/2016/5/30/2015-patent-dispute-report] Patent litigation involving NPEs in 2015 accounted for approximately 67% of cases reviewed by District Courts. The high-tech sector is highly vulnerable to NPE lawsuits as 88% of high-tech patent litigation in 2015 was related to NPEs.<ref name="unified" /> Patent Trolls generate revenue through suing or threatening to sue businesses that infringe on patents. Typically, the damages asked for by Patent Trolls are far beyond the market value of the patent in order to scare small businesses in the initial demand letter, when pressing them to pay the fee to license the patent.
ALL QUOTED FROM [https://judiciary.house.gov/the-innovation-act/]
Patent trolls are harming America’s small businesses – including startups and non-tech companies – every single day. Small businesses are unequipped to defend themselves. As a result, a far higher percentage pay extortive settlements to patent trolls, even when the cases against them have no merit.
The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPILA) estimates that the average cost of defending a patent infringement case is $650,000 for even the smallest cases and $2.5 million for those seeking $1 million to $25 million in damages.
Two-thirds of unique defendants in patent troll lawsuits earn $100 million per year or less.
Over half are from main street businesses, like retail, hotels and restaurants.
55% of troll suits are filed against small businesses with revenues of less than $10 million.
40% of small companies that received a patent troll demand … reported a ‘significant operational impact’: delayed hiring or achievement of another milestone, change in the product, a pivot in business strategy, a shut-down business line or the entire business, and/or lost valuation.
=Patent Reform=
