Week 8 Blog 15: Troll Hunt

It's official. Tech companies are declaring a war against non-practicing entities (NPEs) who have recently been harassing big companies and small businesses alike. As thoroughly discussed in class, NPEs or simply patent trolls, purchase then license certain patents to file infringement lawsuits against any related businesses when they themselves don't even manufacture or sell products. Over the past few years there has been a steady growth of alleged patent infringement lawsuits that have targeted many technology companies, and Cisco, SAS, Adobe, and J.C. Penny have gathered to reinforce laws to protect companies from these trolls.

In 2011, the Congress has already passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to restrict the notoriously broad and vague scope of defining patents. This bill defined certain rules in issuing patents through changing from the "first-to-invent" system to "first inventor-to-file" system as well as a grace period. With this act still settling into the U.S. IP law system, some people are questioning if further enforcement like the proposed Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act is really necessary. One major concern would be defining a patent troll and determine whether the buyer/company helps or hurts other businesses.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030875/tech-companies-tell-congress-to-target-patent-trolls.html