The term "patent trolling" is generally reserved for companies who have no intention of bringing a product to market. Keep in mind that Microsoft has a competin

The term "patent trolling" is generally reserved for companies who have no intention of bringing a product to market. Keep in mind that Microsoft has a competing product in the market, and spends millions of dollars on R&D. Patents are a way of protecting a legitimate R&D effort. Imagine the disincentive with regard to R&D if a company had no protection from a competitor simply taking their idea once they came to market. The key is to protect patents from abuse, while still providing a means to protect legitimate effort in innovation for a reasonable period of time.