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Government Lawyer Says Patent Trolls Are a 'Concern'

Posted by Unknown on from the congress-sued-for-violating-patent-on-reports dept.

New submitter gale the simple writes "While it is fairly common for the jaded and cynical to ride on the lawyers these days (often including Henry VI's famous line about them), every now and then we can see that they are not always the plague and scourge of the earth. EFF again shows that even lawyers can do good in this world. (PDF) All jokes aside, something seems to have moved. Maybe all that bloodletting between the major corporations (Apple vs Samsung) made the leaders recognize that MAD world of patents might not be very stable." From the EFF: "The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the research division of Congress known for its objective studies, recently released a report on the effects of patent trolls on innovation and the economy. ... According to the CRS report, 'The vast majority of defendants settle because patent litigation is risky, disruptive, and expensive, regardless of the merits; and many [patent trolls] set royalty demands strategically well below litigation costs to make the business decision to settle an obvious one.' Businesses lose both time and money, and innovation suffers."

6 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Famous Quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those of you unfamiliar with Shakesphere:

    In Act IV, Scene 2 of Henry VI Part 2, Dick says "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

  2. Henry VI's famous line about them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I thought the point of Henry VI's famous line about them was that to take over and trample on people's rights, first you have to get rid of the lawyers.

    1. Re:Henry VI's famous line about them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      I thought the point of Henry VI's famous line about them was that to take over and trample on people's rights, first you have to get rid of the lawyers.

      No, take some time to read this: http://www.spectacle.org/797/finkel.html . In context, it was clearly bashing lawyers, in part for the way they were hired by the wealthy to prey upon the uneducated who could not understand the contracts they entered into. (And could not afford a lawyer to read and explain them!)

      SB

  3. Why the Apple v Samsung mention? by the+computer+guy+nex · · Score: 5, Informative

    Both companies bring products to market, so by definition they are not patent trolls.

    Oh wait, mentioning iOS vs Android results in clicks!!

    Continue on.

  4. Re:not quite MAD by Stuntmonkey · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's a Prisoner's Dilemma game: Everyone would be better off if nobody engaged in the bad behaviors (patent trolling, patenting trivial "innovations"), but unfortunately it's to everyone's unilateral advantage to engage in those behaviors.

  5. Prosecutors do the same to get defendants to plead by schwit1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Prosecutor says he will go for the maximum sentence if you don't take his deal.