Bonafide732 said:
i highly doubt..lol |
Definition and etymology
"Patent troll" is a controversial neologism, susceptible to multiple definitions. Among them is a party that:
- "Purchases a patent, often from a bankrupt firm, and then sues another company by claiming that one of its products infringes on the purchased patent;"[2].
- Enforces patents against purported infringers without itself intending to manufacture the patented product or supply the patented service;[3][4]
- Enforces patents but has no manufacturing or research base;[5] or
- Focuses its efforts solely on enforcing patent rights.[6]
The term was used as early as 1993 to describe companies that file aggressive patent lawsuits.[2] The Patent Troll was depicted and originally popularized in "The Patents Video" which was released in 1994 and sold to hundreds of corporations, universities and governmental entities. In "The Patents Video," an unsuspecting victim is surprised by the Patent Troll who strategically positioned himself to collect patent licensing revenue. [2];[7] Years later, it was again popularized in 2001 by Peter Detkin, former assistant general counsel of Intel,[8] who applied it to entities that purchase patents at low prices from inventors, rather than inventing or actively developing a technology themselves, then broadly assert the patents across an industry to encourage settlements.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll
