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The patent system has been out of hand for a while but the big corporations haven't complained too much about it because having huge patent portfolios themselve
by grej 13y ago
The patent system has been out of hand for a while but the big corporations haven't complained too much about it because having huge patent portfolios themselves allowed them to build a virtual moat around their business units.
If things go nuclear and they start hemorrhaging even more legal fees, they may begin to exert more pressure to change the system.
Given some of the recent proposed legislation, hopefully the tide is turning against filing patent lawsuits as a business model.
- ScottBurson 13y agoI don't think any of the recent proposed legislation is intended to address a situation like this, where all the players are large companies with deep pockets.
- grej 13y agoGood point. Although this particular case highlights one of the key problems in the entire system. Shell corporations with very little assets are established as the suing entity in order to shield the much larger and wealthier owners from any counter-suit liability. If that aspect of the current system were changed and you could pierce the shell corp to get at the real beneficiaries, it would alter the landscape for these cases significantly.
- xerophtye 13y agoWill you please enlighten me on how these shell corporations are used? i thought they existed to avoid negative PR