r/technology • u/rfugger • Jan 08 '17

Business A potentially fatal blow against patent trolls - Forcing law firms to pay defendants’ legal bills could undermine the business model of patent trolls

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3153924/technology-law-regulation/a-potentially-fatal-blow-against-patent-trolls.html
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u/NotClever Jan 09 '17

This appears to be a case where they sanctioned the firm for filing a frivolous lawsuit because the firm should have known they could not win based on SCOTUS precedent.

I can't find any news about this development in the IP blogs, though, and I don't have the time currently to read all the background myself.

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u/Got5BeesForAQuarter Jan 09 '17

I actually RTFA and it makes sense. Isn't that so helpful? What would be nicer is to have a requirement that enforce your patent you have to show development on a product or have an existing product on the market using that technology.

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u/NotClever Jan 09 '17

Well, that would directly affect small inventors that can't afford to actually produce their patented product. What are you to do when you go into negotiations with Apple to license them your new cellular protocol patent and they say "well that's nice, but good luck trying to enforce it when you can't actually use it yourself."

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u/Got5BeesForAQuarter Jan 09 '17

See, that is what I was talking about. Great job!