Today, 84 percent of high-tech patent lawsuits are filed by Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs, also known as “patent trolls”). Patent trolls—companies that don’t actually make products but instead just use patents they have purchased to sue companies who do—have become so prevalent in that being sued by a troll has become the norm in the tech industry. More than 10,000 companies have been sued at least once by a patent troll and litigation by PAEs is increasing rapidly. Further, many in the industry would confirm that the patents asserted by PAEs are of dubious quality.
These lawsuits can inflict a crippling financial blow, especially to smaller companies, even if the patents asserted in the lawsuit are later found to be invalid or to have not infringed. Patent troll lawsuits are bad for business and bad for innovation, which is why Uber, along with a number of other prominent technology companies, decided it was time to take action.
