The USPTO, the agency charged with determining whether something falls within the scope of patents, is allowing for Patent Trolls to be searchable. As part of the Obama Administrations to crack down on patent trolls, an online toolkit was made available to help entrepreneurs deal with patent trolls. In an example from the article, a mass-sent demand letter claimed a licensing agreement that required hours of time and cost to disprove. Although the sum requested was a trivial amount, $50,000, the hassle that entrepreneur's have to go through to dispel these false allegations is not worth it. The major goal of some of these entrepreneurs is making access to information about who is filing these alleged infringements easier to find. This toolkit has the potential to correct information asymmetry in the patent landscape by providing more information as to who are the one's infringing.
The online firm Lex Machina uses legal based analytics to do comprehensive search to display critical information about patent trolls, their litigation history, and data on federal patent cases. Although it hasn't had a major impact yet on costs, this search capability allows companies to size up who they are dealing with. In addition, it exposes these individuals to the public eye thereby exposing them as to who they are. However, this solution only solves part of the problem as garbage patents are still out there that prevent entrepreneurs from being ultimately ridden of high costs. The article urges the USPTO to take a stand against these garbage patents to make life easier on entrepreneurs.
Being able to search for more information about patent trolls is definitely going to be helpful for new start-ups who cannot afford that much time out of the main business. I was wondering if Lex Machina allows for demand letters to be uploaded by the entrepreneurs? This could allow for the scale of the patent trolls' target to be determined. For example, if they did send out to hundreds of offices, it can be determined that they are solely trying their luck and affected companies could also band together to defend it by knowing who everyone else is.
Jun Yi, thanks for the comment. I definitely agree that that start-ups face an uphill battle with a lack of knowledge about who these patent trolls are. I am actually not entirely sure if Lex Machina does allow the demand letters to be uploaded but by having it public, I don't entirely see a need to. I believe once they can find the identity of the patent trolls, they can do their own independent research and find out more about these independent patent trolls. However, i do see your point because then other entrepreneurs could unite in solidarity against this patent troll. I can imagine the power of many entrepreneurs binding together to find out a way to help defend themselves agains this patent. They could even form a class-action lawsuit against the patent trolls themselves. I think they could also share information, which would be very useful in terms of gaining more leverage against these trolls.
I agree with Jun that the ability to search and find out more information about patent trolls will be very helpful, especially for smaller firms that don't have the large teams of lawyers that big corporations do. I wonder how long it will take for companies to try and compete Lex Machina, as this is definitely a lucrative space. Having the ability to predict and plan for a patent troll attack will no doubt save some small businesses.
Thanks Roshan! I think that small teams will definitely be able to consolidate this public information so that they don't need expansive teams of lawyers searching about these litigation issues. I think the space that Lex Machina is in will be very important in the long run as the US Government is also taking a stand against these trolls. Therefore private companies will be in great demand who can create even more comprehensive databases through which companies can find out more information about these trolls. I imagine in the future, there will be a competition in these types of databases similar to the competition that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other competitors have in search. Once this information is curated and widely accessible, I wonder how patent trolls will adapt.
Hey Yash, I think that this is a really interesting resource. I didn't know that this existed, but I think that allowing patent trolls to be searchable will remove their anonymity, increase their accountability, and stigmatize suing as an NPE to a greater extent. Going forward, I think it will be especially interesting to see how patent trolls react to this increased accountability.
Thanks for the comment Albert! I think that patent trolls being more exposed will be much better for society as a whole. In general, these trolls enjoy relative anonymity which makes them more powerful because they know more information about other companies than other companies know about them. I think with the greater accountability, some patent trolls that deal with solely garbage patents will have more stigma and companies will adapt to combat these companies. I believe that patent trolls will find ways to circumvent being placed on these search databases or try to deliberately find ways to try and keep their anonymity.
It is widely agreed that the biggest problem by far with patent trolls is that they exploit the bad patents. So instead of focusing on trying to provide more information on patent trolls (which is beneficial, nonetheless), I think the USPTO should look inside instead and focus on ensuring that these "bad" patents don't slip by.
I remember in the article, the last comment also referred to how these garbage patents are very hard for companies to combat. I think it is a flaw that the USPTO hasn't done more to combat patent trolls from using these patents to simply extract money from smaller companies who can't defend themselves against these allegations. I think the USPTO is in the process of cracking down on these garbage patents, but they come in all sorts of varieties that most likely requires significant time to negate. I hope that they find ways to expedite the process so that companies don't have to deal with these patents that generally are so broad or outdated but still have impact on current companies.
I agree with Jega here. I think we should focus efforts on stopping patent trolls, rather than create such tools. However, for the time being I think the idea of this tool is fine, until patent reforms address ways to better limit patent trolling or even better, stop patent trolling. Honestly, I don't think we'll ever be able to stop patent trolling, but reform will probably be able to hinder it for a while.
Thanks Rahul! Yeah I think this is more as a tool to help budding entrepreneurs avoid litigation early on in the start of the process. However, I agree if these garbage patents are out of the way, then patent trolls will have less ammunition to use against these companies in the first place. I hope this reform comes sooner, but I agree in the meantime, the Obama administration at least is addressing the growing issue of patent trolls with this online toolkit.
I agree with Jega and Rahul. The fundamental problem of patent trolls is that they were not being dealt with at the first place. The patent eligibility needs to be clarified (which UPSTO is making an effort on this matter), meaning the validity of certain claims need to be easier to identify and not to be obscured with the language described in the claims.
It's great to see that US is getting involved and heightening regulation of patent trolls. This gives entrepreneurs some clarity in their initiatives to create innovative products rather than worry that every step they do might infringe on a patent.
How else do you think entrepreneurs can be helped in pursuing patent initiatives?
Being able to search for more information about patent trolls is definitely going to be helpful for new start-ups who cannot afford that much time out of the main business. I was wondering if Lex Machina allows for demand letters to be uploaded by the entrepreneurs? This could allow for the scale of the patent trolls' target to be determined. For example, if they did send out to hundreds of offices, it can be determined that they are solely trying their luck and affected companies could also band together to defend it by knowing who everyone else is.
ReplyDeleteJun Yi, thanks for the comment. I definitely agree that that start-ups face an uphill battle with a lack of knowledge about who these patent trolls are. I am actually not entirely sure if Lex Machina does allow the demand letters to be uploaded but by having it public, I don't entirely see a need to. I believe once they can find the identity of the patent trolls, they can do their own independent research and find out more about these independent patent trolls. However, i do see your point because then other entrepreneurs could unite in solidarity against this patent troll. I can imagine the power of many entrepreneurs binding together to find out a way to help defend themselves agains this patent. They could even form a class-action lawsuit against the patent trolls themselves. I think they could also share information, which would be very useful in terms of gaining more leverage against these trolls.
DeleteI agree with Jun that the ability to search and find out more information about patent trolls will be very helpful, especially for smaller firms that don't have the large teams of lawyers that big corporations do. I wonder how long it will take for companies to try and compete Lex Machina, as this is definitely a lucrative space. Having the ability to predict and plan for a patent troll attack will no doubt save some small businesses.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roshan! I think that small teams will definitely be able to consolidate this public information so that they don't need expansive teams of lawyers searching about these litigation issues. I think the space that Lex Machina is in will be very important in the long run as the US Government is also taking a stand against these trolls. Therefore private companies will be in great demand who can create even more comprehensive databases through which companies can find out more information about these trolls. I imagine in the future, there will be a competition in these types of databases similar to the competition that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other competitors have in search. Once this information is curated and widely accessible, I wonder how patent trolls will adapt.
DeleteHey Yash,
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really interesting resource. I didn't know that this existed, but I think that allowing patent trolls to be searchable will remove their anonymity, increase their accountability, and stigmatize suing as an NPE to a greater extent. Going forward, I think it will be especially interesting to see how patent trolls react to this increased accountability.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThanks for the comment Albert! I think that patent trolls being more exposed will be much better for society as a whole. In general, these trolls enjoy relative anonymity which makes them more powerful because they know more information about other companies than other companies know about them. I think with the greater accountability, some patent trolls that deal with solely garbage patents will have more stigma and companies will adapt to combat these companies. I believe that patent trolls will find ways to circumvent being placed on these search databases or try to deliberately find ways to try and keep their anonymity.
DeleteIt is widely agreed that the biggest problem by far with patent trolls is that they exploit the bad patents. So instead of focusing on trying to provide more information on patent trolls (which is beneficial, nonetheless), I think the USPTO should look inside instead and focus on ensuring that these "bad" patents don't slip by.
ReplyDeleteI remember in the article, the last comment also referred to how these garbage patents are very hard for companies to combat. I think it is a flaw that the USPTO hasn't done more to combat patent trolls from using these patents to simply extract money from smaller companies who can't defend themselves against these allegations. I think the USPTO is in the process of cracking down on these garbage patents, but they come in all sorts of varieties that most likely requires significant time to negate. I hope that they find ways to expedite the process so that companies don't have to deal with these patents that generally are so broad or outdated but still have impact on current companies.
DeleteI agree with Jega here. I think we should focus efforts on stopping patent trolls, rather than create such tools. However, for the time being I think the idea of this tool is fine, until patent reforms address ways to better limit patent trolling or even better, stop patent trolling. Honestly, I don't think we'll ever be able to stop patent trolling, but reform will probably be able to hinder it for a while.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rahul! Yeah I think this is more as a tool to help budding entrepreneurs avoid litigation early on in the start of the process. However, I agree if these garbage patents are out of the way, then patent trolls will have less ammunition to use against these companies in the first place. I hope this reform comes sooner, but I agree in the meantime, the Obama administration at least is addressing the growing issue of patent trolls with this online toolkit.
DeleteI agree with Jega and Rahul. The fundamental problem of patent trolls is that they were not being dealt with at the first place. The patent eligibility needs to be clarified (which UPSTO is making an effort on this matter), meaning the validity of certain claims need to be easier to identify and not to be obscured with the language described in the claims.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see that US is getting involved and heightening regulation of patent trolls. This gives entrepreneurs some clarity in their initiatives to create innovative products rather than worry that every step they do might infringe on a patent.
ReplyDeleteHow else do you think entrepreneurs can be helped in pursuing patent initiatives?
Please don't fall behind with your posts!
ReplyDelete