> As a startup there is no possible way that we would be able to afford a lengthy IP court battle without serious VC money or revenue... This is essentially wh

> As a startup there is no possible way that we would be able to afford a lengthy IP court battle without serious VC money or revenue... This is essentially why many NPEs exist. You can approach them, and if they think your IP is being infringed by somebody worth suing, they will litigate it on "contingency". That is, they will charge you almost nothing but will keep the lion's share of any settlement or damages. As bad as NPEs are when they target startups, they are often the only recourse when faced with a big, well-funded infringer. The current widespread negative rhetoric against "patent trolls" does well in distracting startups from this fact.