US Congress, courts attempt to define 'patent trolls' to curb abusive litigation

The growing number of patent litigation against tech companies have now gotten attention of courts and the US Congress. According to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services principal Don Fancher, awareness of patents as an asset class was seen as the new cash cow as companies who are looking for extra money from their portfolios.

Bloomberg said that patent litigation has been around since the time the country has been founded. ndiana University professor of patents and legal history Gerard Magliocca said that after the Civil War, those who were called 'patent sharks' had brought dormant patents on agricultural tools and forced farmers then to pay $10 to $100 under the threat of litigation. The news agency said that the difference today is the speed and the complexity of devices, of which parts made up of hundreds of features and parts each us a lawsuit in the making.

At the moment, lobby groups are taking the difficult matter to court and the US Congress to sort out how to stop other patent-holding companies to sue firms who had been developing technology without damaging the centuries-old system, of which its main goal is the advancement of science and industry.

The term "patent troll" started by Intel Corp spokesman Chuck Mulloy, who called a firm who had sued the chipmaker and extortionist in the Wall Street Journal in 1999. Mulloy said the term "patent troll" was made up by company lawyers who represented Intel in the WSJ libel case. Nowaday, executives of Intel said that the term "patent troll" is given to almost anyone who blocks the progress of someone and collects a fee or something in return to lift the block.

Chief executive officer Michael Beckerman of the Internet Association, whose lobby group has Amazon.com Inc and Google as its members, said, "A lot of it's the smell test. You know the difference between the company trying to make a business and some fake LLC where their whole business model is figuring out how much people will have to spend in court."

On March 27, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy is reportedly preparing a bill with some Republicans that would urge companies to provide more disclosure of its ownership of a patent and will force the US Patent and Trademark Office to expand its review process.

However, political observers said that the industry will be waiting a bit longer to see a favored legislation dealing with "patent trolls." Congress passed a major patent legislation in 2011 after seven years of debate. At the moment, lobbyists of both sides believed that Congress will pass something in November before the mid-term elections, Bloomberg said.

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US Congress, The Internet Association, US Congress patent law measure proposal

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