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Really sounds to me like a consortium that would end up using its collective power to destroy non-members. Would be easy enough at some point to make sure only large corporations can afford to be members, and go after innovative small companies with their shared portfolio.

Legal reform makes a lot more sense to me and is less fraught with potential with abuse.

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The nightmare scenario you describe is already the current situation. There is already a "boy's club," you automatically become a member when you have acquired enough patents. The consortium is simply a way to lower the barrier to entry to be "one of the boys."

The problem with legal reform is that it won't happen, not that it isn't the right thing to do.

The consortium as an intermediate step would be a good way to slow roll reform. Once a critical mass of companies is part of the consortium, intellectual property value would start decreasing, due to the decreased offensive effectiveness, and legal reform would become more feasible.

Exactly. I prefer legal reform too, but something is better than nothing.

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