Fighting patent trolls with the LOT Network | Hacker News Reader

Fighting patent trolls with the LOT Network

github.com

50 pointsdaw___6 comments

Forgive me for asking a stupid question but why would someone from the LOT network sell a patent to a troll and why wouldn't companies that make money from selling to a troll join the LOT network?

Patent Trolls are often buying "unused" patents from various companies. Usually what happens is a startup or something goes downhill, and assets get sold, or a slowly dying company decides to change it's view on IP assertion or "maximizing shareholder value through licensing". Even normal companies often sell patents not at the core of their business to make money on the side, (where non-core would be like IBM's patents on bathroom reservations, http://www.google.com/patents/US6329919?dq=system+and+method...).

As for "why wouldn't companies that make money from selling to a troll join the LOT network?", because it would mean the trolls would not derive value from the patents, since all participants in LOT would get a license when that sale happened.

If LOT contains everyone the troll wants to sue, then the patent is not worth anything to the troll.

Couldn't a LOT member still sell to a troll using the Change of Control provisions?

"Under the LOT Agreement, every company that participates grants a portfolio-wide license to the other participants, but the license becomes effective ONLY when the participant transfers one or more patents to an entity other than another LOT Network participant, and ONLY for the patent(s) actually transferred."

Doesn't this mean that if every company were to join the network that we would just end up back at square one with tons of money being pumped into this organization?

Ultimately useless because Trolls are now writing their own trivial patents. In addition to this, tons of solo practitioner attorneys are out there writing patents on their own hoping to sell some broad bullshit patent to a troll.

Still, this is a good effort in that it gets people thinking about the problem. That's the first step before real reform.

Got data?

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