patent troll
14 ResultsDictionary
patent troll
An organization that uses its patents to generate revenue without manufacturing the products that the patents pertain to. The patents are usually purchased from a third party, which may be going...
Dictionary
Definition: patent troll
An organization that uses its patents to generate revenue without manufacturing the products that the patents pertain to. The patents are usually purchased from a third party, which may be going out of business or is no longer interested in bringing the product to market.
Also called a "non-practicing entity" (NPE), which is the more noble term, the patent troll looks for infringers that have invested heavily in the product and often has to threaten them with or actually instigate a lawsuit in order to obtain licensing revenues. Companies that are involved in the business that the patent covers may indeed sue others for patent infringement, but that does not make them a patent troll. A patent troll is a holding company that buys patents based on their potential profitability if enforced.
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Paul Allen is no patent troll
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Apple is the new open source villain
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OIN outmanuevers Microsoft, buys Linux patents
The Open Invention Network seems to have one upped Microsoft. Â Or has Microsoft one upped OIN? Either way, it's win-win for Linux. Yesterday, OIN, whose mission is to defend Linux and open...
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Beating patent trolls at their own game
Saul Hansell's piece in the Times is called Trolling for Patents to Fight Patent Trolls. Kinda like a war for peace. At a recent patent auction in San Francisco, which in general didn't go that...
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Patent troll sues Oprah over Sony BookReader(!??)
A patent that got its attorney-inventor fired from his firm (for suing Google) is now being used against Oprah and Sony.
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File your open source code with Linux Defenders
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RPX: Can it defend against patent trolls?
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Nathan Myhrvold: Alpha patent troll?
Former Microsoft exec Nathan Myhrvold has been collecting patents, extracting fees from technology companies via his company Intellectual Ventures. Is Myhrvold a patent troll with tech cred? The...
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Tech giants aim to cut patent trolls off at the pass
Verizon, Google, Cisco, Ericsson and HP are joining a group designed to buy up intellectual property before other parties acquire it to launch lawsuits. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this...
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PaaS and the patent trolls
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Additional Results
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10 wild new patents: The future of tech?
USPTO has been granting lots of new patents, some with a surprisingly quick turnaround. Here are drawings of 10 noteworthy patents issued to top tech players last week.
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Judge denies Oracle's motion to overturn patent ruling
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Huawei asks EU to intervene in InterDigital patent dispute
Huawei has called on European antitrust regulators to investigate InterDigital, after it claims the company is pushing up the license fees of industry-standard patents.
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Oracle v. Google: Winners and losers
Google was vindicated over claims of patent infringment today, but let's take a closer look at some of the winners and losers in this case so far.
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Jury strikes a blow against software patents
Ding, dong, the patent witch is dead! Well, maybe not dead, but at least melting a bit.
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Google kicks Oracle in its patent teeth
Oracle loses its patent claims and so Google has almost completely defeated Oracle in its vain attempts to squeeze an intellectual property payoff from Google and Android.
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