Are so-called "patent trolls" a US-only problem?

Financial Expert

Sadly, Non-Practising Entities are abundant in today's economy and you will most likely not run into one unless you've really invaded their territory.

As with all IP, it's easier to be reactive that proactive, but you could still keep one eye open for what's around the corner... :)

IP Broker

Hello Thomas:

Thanks for the question.

Many of the articles you'll read about "Patent Trolls" are uniformly negative. This is unfair and I would exercise caution in treating their conclusions as gospel. While they are more active in the US, there are European implications, both good and bad.

Patent trolls, or more properly, Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), offer individual inventors, entrepreneurs and even somewhat larger companies the ability to monetize IP which they could not on their own. When an individual sells a patent family to an NPE for a 7-figure sum, the benefit is clear.

Now, are there abusive patent trolls truly deserving of that name? Yes. Just as their are doctors who harm patients.

The respected NPEs do business in the US and in Europe and Asia, though of course many patents are US only, rather than PCT-based applications.

Rather than being solely concerned with legal and financial risk, I would recommend you additionally consider how to take advantage of the consolidation of patents (which can also reside with large corporations that are technically practicing entities but which do not in fact "practice" the patent).

Remember that at the end of the day, cooperative negotiation can benefit both parties while being adversarial only because of fear can actually harm both parties. Therefore, consider opportunities to partner with the legitimate NPEs and of course be wary of those with less than good intentions.

Good luck to you.

Patent Attorney

As of today patent trolls are still developing across various jurisdiction and Yes in Europe, it has been a fair amount of patent troll activity in the European Union, it has not risen to the level seen in the U.S.

Examples of some patent trolls involved in Europe which includes German based companies of IPCom GmBH and Papst Licensing GmBH & Co.

As you know the risk associated with these patent trolls are Infringement cases, patent litigation.

With respect to Europe, a Unified Patent Court (UPC) - which is a future centralized litigation system is formed in 2013, but the rules of procedure are still being finalized.
The draft provisions has ambiguity in terms of implementation with respect to dealing of the behaviour of Patent trolls, two such provisions are: Article 33 of UPC agreement (UPCA) and Article 62 of UPCA.

One has to wait and see on the UPC preparatory committee works up to handle the Patent litigation in Europe.

Hope my comments are useful to you.