While following up on our ongoing coverage of the proposed patent troll reform legislation snaking through Congress, we stumbled across the following article on CNN.com: Opinion: Not all patent trolls are demons by Timothy Holbrook... Download .PDF to read further

1. IT’S A TRILOGY! (More on Patent
Trolls…)
-Kate Kotler, Writer
March 5, 2014

2. While
following
up
on
our
ongoing
coverage
of
the
proposed
patent
troll
reform
legisla=on
snaking
through
Congress,
we
stumbled
across
the
following
ar=cle
on
CNN.com:
Opinion:
Not
all
patent
trolls
are
demons
by
Timothy
Holbrook
Duh,
some
of
them
are
homunculi!
(Patently
-­‐pun
intended-­‐
stolen
from
fusillade762
on
Fark.com)
The
crux
of
the
opinion
piece
is
that
while
the
media
is
busy
“demonizing”
Patent
Asser=on
En==es
(or,
PAEs,
the
polite
way
of
saying
“patent
troll”)
that
many
of
these
companies
actually
serve
a
valuable
business
purpose
and
are
one
of
the
only
solid
channels
bootstrapped
inventors
have
of
seeing
monetary
return
for
their
crea=ons:
Rules
of
a
Trilogy
(Scream
3)
“What
is
lost
in
this
mudslinging
is
that
much
of
what
PAEs
do
is
laudable
—
paying
inventors.
Patents
don’t
grow
on
trees.
Someone
came
up
with
the
inven@on
and
incurred
considerable
expense
to
obtain
the
patent.
Many
inventors
can’t
bring
their
inven@on
to
market
themselves,
however,
so
selling
the
patent
may
be
the
only
way
for
them
to
make
money.
By
buying
these
patents,
PAEs
compensate
inventors,
one
of
patent
law’s
objec@ves.”
Mobile Marketing Agency

3. While
this
is
an
interes=ng
flip
side
of
the
patent
troll
coin
to
consider,
it
seems
to
us
that
altruis=c
PAEs
comprise
a
small
minority
of
the
larger
patent
acquisi=on
community
and
while
Congress
should
consider
the
legi=mate
business
purposes
of
this
segment
(and,
make
sure
their
ac=vi=es
are
protected),
they
s=ll
should
go
aUer
reform
that
puts
the
kibosh
on
those
who
are
looking
to
exploit
the
system
solely
for
financial
gain.
IE:
Go
aUer
the
overly
li=gious
patent
trolls
with
low-­‐quality
patents.
Holbrook
agrees,
“Problems
arise
when
PAEs
sue
on
improperly
issued
patents,
ones
that
never
should
have
goHen
out
of
the
US
Patent
and
Trademark
Office.”
Unfortunately,
it
seems
-­‐such
as
in
the
case
of
PAEs
like
Chicago’s
own,
Anthony
Brown-­‐
that
most
rely
on
low-­‐
quality
patents
that
shouldn’t
be
li=gated
as
the
center
of
their
business.
So
where
do
you
draw
the
line
with
the
Innova=on
Act?
Do
nothing,
do
everything
or
work
harder
to
find
a
compromise…
?
Well,
it’s
Congress,
so
we
can
only
venture
an
educated
guess
as
to
what
the
answer
will
be.
!
-­‐Kate
Kotler,
Writer
Mobile Marketing Agency