4 ms·

> The EFF has a list. Only one law firm, Farney Daniels, has sent more than three demand letters. OK...so as you say, on the EFF website they have a sample of

by Ologn 11y ago

> The EFF has a list. Only one law firm, Farney Daniels, has sent more than three demand letters. OK...so as you say, on the EFF website they have a sample of 50 or 60 of these types of letters. Only one law firm sent more than three of the letters in this small sample they exhibit. So? What's your point? God knows how many dozens or hundreds or thousands of patent troll letters were sent out for patent #7986426 alone ( http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/patent-trolls-want-1000-for-using-scanners/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/patent-trolls-wan... ). The letters told random companies (the article in the link I posted mentions just ones that were in Atlanta) that they had to pay up to the tune of $1000 a head for a license if the company had employees that scanned documents to e-mail. Not $1000 a company, $1000 a head at a company. One of the companies figured out that the patent trolls had probably just mass-mailed every company on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's yearly "Atlanta's Best Workplaces" list.

throwawaykf05 11y ago
While cases like the scan-to-email trolls make the news, it's precisely because they are relatively rare. Tech media likes to hype these up and make it seem like there's a rash of these cases, studies by the GAO and a couple of scholars indicate that there is actually no patent troll crisis. While it's true that we have insufficient insight into the numbers for demand letters, there are very few other reported entities actually doing this. That said, I'd still like to see lot accountability and tracking of demand letters.
- rhino369 11y ago
  They aren't all that rare at all. But they also aren't typically as ridiculous as the print-to-scan patent trolling scheme. Usually they go after medium sized fish and ask for ~100-200k. It's cheaper than a suit or an post grant review. But even the medium fish are hundreds of millions / billion dollar companies. The patent trolling going after the little guy is mostly exaggeration. Most trolls aim for deep pockets. Plus you can lowball the shit out of trolls who send letters. Since you know they aren't serious. If they were, they'd never risk a declaratory judgement suit in a defendant favorable district. They'd just hit you in E.D. Tex or DE.
nickpsecurity 11y ago
More like thousands of lawsuits a year: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/the-year-in-patent-litigation-more-trolling-more-texas/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/the-year-in-paten... Smaller targets often sign NDA's over the terms of the licensing settlement, too. That by itself probably reduces what's in the media.

by Ologn 11y ago

throwawaykf05 11y ago

While cases like the scan-to-email trolls make the news, it's precisely because they are relatively rare. Tech media likes to hype these up and make it seem like there's a rash of these cases, studies by the GAO and a couple of scholars indicate that there is actually no patent troll crisis. While it's true that we have insufficient insight into the numbers for demand letters, there are very few other reported entities actually doing this. That said, I'd still like to see lot accountability and tracking of demand letters.

rhino369 11y ago
They aren't all that rare at all. But they also aren't typically as ridiculous as the print-to-scan patent trolling scheme. Usually they go after medium sized fish and ask for ~100-200k. It's cheaper than a suit or an post grant review. But even the medium fish are hundreds of millions / billion dollar companies. The patent trolling going after the little guy is mostly exaggeration. Most trolls aim for deep pockets. Plus you can lowball the shit out of trolls who send letters. Since you know they aren't serious. If they were, they'd never risk a declaratory judgement suit in a defendant favorable district. They'd just hit you in E.D. Tex or DE.

nickpsecurity 11y ago

More like thousands of lawsuits a year: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/the-year-in-patent-litigation-more-trolling-more-texas/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/the-year-in-paten... Smaller targets often sign NDA's over the terms of the licensing settlement, too. That by itself probably reduces what's in the media.