What is a Patent Troll?
I would imagine it depends on ones perception. Is a Patent troll a company that scans the technology universe searching for companies to prey on? Well, yes it is. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? This is where your perception comes in. Is it wrong to steal ones ideas without compensation? Is it wrong to take advantage of a legal system that is so overloaded with thieves and criminals clogging the wheels of justice? A practice that makes it so expensive that the great majority of innovators don't have the money, or expertise to peruse those stealing their technology? I believe Patent troll is a term, not unlike the term Pigs describing police by criminals that get arrested for breaking the law. If you are not breaking the law you wouldn't hate police, or patent trolls. The only difference is that we investors can make a lot of money backing patent trolls. The injustice is that white collar crime, and especially in the case of patents, does not involve prison time and that is why it is so prevalent. The real injustice is that companies can accumulate great wealth stealing innovative ideas and the payment is far short of the crime, and they all know that fact. Unfortunately, the innocent are at times accused. Just as the police at times arrest the wrong person. So what is the alternative? To seek your own justice? What would our society be like if that were our only choice? Patent trolls, it would seem to me in my perception, fill a much needed roll.
