>...this scenario is very difficult to distinguish from a patent troll. It's really not. This guy invented a physical product, got a patent, then licensed it (

>...this scenario is very difficult to distinguish from a patent troll. It's really not. This guy invented a physical product, got a patent, then licensed it (under contract) to a company to produce exclusively. This is a "valid" use of patents in the intended spirit and is a far cry from trolling. Hasbro then renegued on the contract and tried to stiff the guy for royalties it had agreed to pay him. The lawsuits filed were not for patent infringement. They were for unpaid royalties and breach of contract. >...Hasbro tells him to get lost, then rips off his design and produces the stuff anyway? Well, that's what the courts are for, but it still doesn't make it trolling if he decides to go after them. I guess some people believe that no ideas should be protectable, in which case there shouldn't be a such thing as patents. In that case, anyone seeking a patent would be a de facto troll. But, that's a separate argument. Given that patents do exist, trolling describes a distinct set of behaviors apart from an original inventor seeking to protect his invention.