About a decade ago, one of my dear friends came to me with an idea for a better pacifier for teething babies . She spent an inordinate amount of time, effort and money on the design and was eventually able to secure a patent. Because she did not get enough funding (these were the days before crowdfunding afterall), my friend could not produce and launch this product; she still, however, retained her rights under the patent.
Seeing that her patent will probably expire in a few years, it is quite possible that my friend has already sold her rights to a Patent Holding Company aka “Patent Troll”. Entities like these have absolutely no interest in manufacturing the products related to the patents they purchase. They only use them as vehicles for patent infringement lawsuits against any entrepreneur that tries to produce a similar invention. Even if their claim is weak, these trolls know that most business owners don’t have the ability to spend up to $1 million defending these suits. As such, they are able to fill their coffers with the monetary settlements and/or licensing fees from their shakedown.
However, as Jeremy Quittner explains, the Supreme Court recently gave us business owners the means to fight back against these trolls. First, they made it easier for the trial court judge to order these patent trolls to pay your legal fees if they bring a weak case against you. Second, they made it more difficult for patent trolls to win against you if they choose to appeal the trial court decision. With these two gifts from the Supreme Court, you can now protect yourself from the patent troll shakedown!
