4 ms·

Pardon my ignorance, but if these firms are buying up patents, aren't they paying fairly and squarely for IP assets? Whether or not they produced the IP, how do

• kutkloon7 9y ago
  From a legal point of view you are completely right. Personally I find the whole idea of IP to be a little too strict. It is possible for me to come up with an idea completely independently and still get sued because someone got the same idea and decided to make it his IP. Some big tech companies have the same strategy as patent trolls, and for some reason this is a much more widely accepted practice.
  • DerekL 9y ago
    How could this change to patent law work? Wouldn't everyone who wants to use a patent without paying just lie and claim that they came up with it independently? How would a court find out the truth?
• Retric 9y ago
  The problem is they are 'buying worthless patents'. Then trying to get people to pay not because of the patent, but because the US court system is so expensive. One of the problems is the patent office may grant an extremely narrow patent, but the courts just might interpret it broadly. However, the shell company suing you has no assets to recover over a bogus suit. So, taking them to court has zero upside, costs money, and has a tiny chance of costing a lot of money. Thus troll.
  • kutkloon7 9y ago
    IMHO the patents are usually not narrow, but overly broad, and they should not have been registered in the first place.