It’s Time for Patent Licensors to Police Themselves
The release of Conversant’s principles for ethical behavior in the patent licensing industry is a sign of just how far the industry has come in recent years. For years, patent licensing firms have studiously avoided any discussion of “patent trolls” and the harm they cause to small businesses. Most licensing firms refused to even use […]
Read more >Distinguishing Between Legitimate Non-Practicing Entities and Patent Trolls
Patient licensing has widely been sensationalized as being a real threat to the innovation-promoting benefits of the patent system. However, as detailed in my last post, nothing could be further from the truth. The August 2013 report from the US General Accountability Office (GAO) on US patent infringement litigation confirmed, both directly and indirectly, the […]
Read more >Patent Licensing: Delivering Proven Value to the U.S. Economy
To read the press today, you would think patent owners who do not make or sell products—called “non-practicing entities” or NPEs—are all “patent trolls” who corrupt the innovation-promoting benefits of the patent system. This was unfortunately also the message from the White House on June 4, 2013 when it issued executive orders and legislative proposals […]
Read more >How and Why the Founding Fathers Created Non-Practicing Entities
Legitimate NPEs are not anything new in our economy. In fact, NPEs and patent licensing were actually authorized by the U.S. Founding Fathers 233 years ago as a way to kick-start the development of the new American economy. Remember, at the time of its founding, America had a backward agrarian economy, almost wholly-dependent on imports, […]
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