I am generally a very positive person; the word "hate" is barely a part of my vocabulary.   But I frankly hate patent trolls.  They are to high tech companies what tapeworms are to human beings.  The only people I know who have anything good to say about patent trolls are... other patent trolls (and their lawyers).

If you're unfamiliar with the term, patent trolls -- also referred to in legal circles as "Non-Practicing Entites," or NPE's -- are individuals and companies whose business model is simply to acquire patents, typically from companies that no longer find them of much value, and use them to extort money from companies that are actually doing something useful.

The patent troll business model is insidious.  They will identify a company that they can claim (however dubiously) to be infringing on their patents, and send that company a threatening letter.  Their demands will vary with the size of their targets, but they might for example threaten to sue for $2,000,000 in "licensing" fees, offer to settle for $500,000, and ultimately settle for $150,000.  Their victims might believe that the patents are of no value, but their lawyers will tell them that even successfully fighting off the troll might cost them $1,000,000.   

Companies making decisions on a strictly financial basis -- as most do -- are likely to negotiate the smallest amount they can, and pay it as a nuisance fee, however unjustified the claims.  The trolls count on this -- if they had to actually fight in court they might lose, and this could make their patents useless against future victims.  Ultimately, patent trolls are nothing more than extortionists, or gangsters demanding "protection money" from legitimate businesses.

For many years, the problem of patent trolls has seemed almost unsolvable.  But in recent years, some promising new approaches have emerged.   Mimecast has recently joined an organization that pursues a particularly innovative approach, <a href=http://lotnet.com>LOT Network</a>

When a company like Mimecast becomes a LOT member, we agree that if and only if any of our patents ever fall into the hands of a patent troll, any member company that was active while Mimecast’s patents were a part of LOT will receive an automatic license — thereby protecting against troll lawsuits using those assets.  In Mimecast's case, all
of the other LOT members are now protected if any of these patents fall into the hands of a troll:  https://www.mimecast.com/virtual-patent-marking/  

Given that nearly ten million patents have been issued in the US alone, this might sound like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon, but it's far more practical than that.  First of all, most of those patents have long since expired; the life of a US patent is currently 20 years.  And second, LOT network already has over 800,000 patent assets covered.  Members of LOT are protected from patent trolls who might happen to acquire any of them, ever.

What I find particularly clever about this scheme is that it does nothing to restrict a company's patent rights as long as it owns the patents.  LOT members are free to sue each other over their patents as much as they like, or at least until all their patent lawyers all get so rich they retire to a tropical island.  It's only the least legitimate, least productive (ab)uses of the patent system that are restricted.

The really great news is that LOT seems to have reached a stage of critical mass.  In the last two years, membership has grown by a factor of ten, and now includes some of the most innovative high-tech companies on the planet, such as Amazon,  Facebook, Oracle, Tesla, and many more.  WIth each new member, the future options for patent trolls become narrower and narrower, with more companies protected from more patents falling into the hands of trolls.

LOT certainly doesn't fix all the problems with today's patent system, nor even all the possible ways that patent trolls can make mischief.  But it's an enormous step forward, and the most positivie development I can remember.  I encourage our colleagues in the tech industry -- explicitly including our competitors -- to join us in striking a blow against these parasites who create unnecessary costs and worries for legitimate, productive businesses.  You can find out more about LOT at http://lotnet.com.  If your company hasn't joined yet, please make sure your IP and legal teams know about it!