> can a publicly traded corporation even choose to ignore it? Would shareholders be able to claim breach of fiduciary duties if they did? Patents are a weapon,

> can a publicly traded corporation even choose to ignore it? Would shareholders be able to claim breach of fiduciary duties if they did? Patents are a weapon, and if one huge corporation has no "weapons" to defend itself with, then others with "weapons" will attack it. That's why they all have to participate. In this case, they all - Google included - rushed towards a particularly juicy weapons cache, and whoever got their hands on it was going to use it on the others. This is fucking ridiculous and disgusting, of course. But it's not the fault of these corporations - they're forced to play, because if one doesn't, then others will just force a massive competitive disadvantage on it. The real problem is the US patent system, the US courts, and the culture of feverish bullshit litigation at every turn that pervades the US.