Many businesses face ongoing threats from patent assertion entities (PAEs), or so-called “patent trolls,” that acquire patents solely for the purpose of suing pharma, tech, and other firms for infringement. They never plan to manufacture the patented products but hope only to profit from the associated legal action.
These lawsuits, despite their seeming frivolity, cause multiple problems for targeted businesses. First, they can be very costly to defend, forcing companies to use financial and other resources that could be used to invest in strategic initiatives. Those resources, drained by litigation, are no longer available for innovation, resulting in lost opportunities for society at large in new pharmaceuticals, technologies, and other offerings. The US Constitution laid the foundation for patents and copyrights precisely to stimulate innovation without concern for theft.