If patents exist as a legal form of intellectual property, they should be able to be purchased and exchanged in a commercial market. Authors, composers and othe

If patents exist as a legal form of intellectual property, they should be able to be purchased and exchanged in a commercial market. Authors, composers and other creators of works with intellectual property rights can transfer or sell those rights and there is no obligation for the purchaser to do anything with the work other than own it and collect royalties. In the case of a song or a book, it is simple (in most cases) to know that someone is performing your song or publishing your book without consent. This isn't the case with patents. There is an involved process to determine if a given entity is violating another's patent rights. This friction in determining right from wrong is the mechanism that allows patent trolls to extract a toll from anyone who isn't able or willing to fight the claim. This puts an asymmetric amount of leverage in the hands of the patent trolls. Some mechanism/legislation needs to be put in place to balance the power so that there is a higher cost to the patent owner who brings spurious claims.