2015 was one of the worst years for the prosecution of patent trolling.
Most trials that involved snagging headlines tech titans - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon - but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were more frequent targets
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Although these cases can do for less sensational stories, they show that no company, no matter how small, is immune. Over 50 percent of companies targeted by patent trolls make less than $ 10 million annually. The average cost of defending a lawsuit of patent troll is more than $ 3.2 million, which, for many entrepreneurs, could be enough to put them out of business.
Simply getting hit with a suit can inflict damage. To protect your business significantly from this pervasive threat, you need to think and act strategically instead of playing right into the hands of a troll signing quick paycheck.
Why startups?
patent trolls are predators, and unfortunately, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are their prey of choice.
SMEs are particularly vulnerable because they do not have the expertise or resources to defend itself in litigation which, as noted above, is exorbitant. Every dollar and every minute is precious for SMEs that need to allocate their strategically limited resources - to pay for talent, technology development, marketing -., In order to sustain and grow
startups Sacrificing these resources to patent troll litigation can and has caused failure. The stakes are higher because the risks are not distributed or mediated by the scale of a large organization.
Accordingly, startups are much more likely to settle, even unfounded trial.
At the same time, large companies have begun to realize that the settlement with the trolls made them more frequent targets and now fight much more than before. More often than not, the defendants win.
These two factors have caused trolls to target even more fiercely SMEs in recent years -. A phenomenon that is particularly harmful to the US economy, where SMEs are key drivers of innovation and growth
More than 80 percent of lawsuits lagging patent of emerging multi-defendant suits were recently by patentees with pitifully weak patent brought against companies under $ 100 million in revenue. In 2005, nearly 6,000 lawsuits have been filed; in many cases involving trolls who file lawsuits against tens and in some cases hundreds of SMEs.
These combinations are harmful are deposited in the hope of reaping the greatest gain in the least amount of effort, and are required that can disrupt or completely bankrupt a small business.
What you can do about trolls
For too long, organizations of all sizes felt powerless against the trolls. Although it is difficult to make a business troll-proof, it can be done. Even after my employer, Newegg, put an aggressive strategy in place to fight against the prosecution, it took five to six years to reach the point where patent aggressors began avoiding us (and zeroing on more targets easy instead).
The journey may not be quick or easy, but it is necessary to achieve a dispute for lasting peace. You must make an effort to fight as much and as hard as possible. Small businesses do not have the legal teams and scale that larger companies do, but most should have at least some useful tools in their arsenal.
In short, most companies can:
- hard fight and intelligent
- Find friends and share resources
- Flaunt victories and plans to fight against
fighting may be prohibitive to find other companies to share the costs and the defensive resources is a smart move.
This is particularly useful in large cases of multiple prosecutions defendants: one start may not be able to mount a defense of $ 150,000, but 10 slapped companies with the same suit every step in $ 15,000 without breaking the bank can. With 20 companies, the defense fund is $ 300,000.
When the majority of cases of multi-defendant troll feature each defendant spend somewhere between $ 25 to 100.000 between the costs of the defense and global regulation, the accused are still willing to commit half of their expenditure Total in a mutual fund defense can make life miserable both a troll and his lawyer contingency fees, and help encourage both groups to pursue more honest working lines.
Consider joining community organizations such as LOT nonprofit Network for protection against the troll assertions against nearly half million patents held by other members. Companies like unified patents also offer products and services that can strengthen entrepreneurs with defensive resources, including assistance to defense costs.
Another strategy is to make as much noise as possible about the fight against patent trolls.
Publicize the fact that you are not going quietly and quickly in the cave trolls and their lawyers. publicly ask for help and do not hesitate to share the details of your fight. Let people know when you win. Demonstrate that you will not take the attacks lying and they will look elsewhere.
A small company facing a patent assertion application may be very different from a technological giant deals with a but that does not mean small businesses can not benefit examples of large corporations. Just because you're small does not mean you're weak or helpless.
Do not respond to trolls Playbook - tear and stomp on it. Whenever a company quickly paid the toll of trolling, it encourages further behind and at night the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem. The only way to eradicate the trolls is for companies of all sizes to come together and refuse to be extorted longer.
Fight, do not feed, patent trolls.