Innovation makes the world go round. Patents protect innovation. Patent trolls suck energy and time and money from companies that spawn innovation — so much so, that some companies die in the effort.
Welcome to the world of the patent troll, where the legal system can be gamed to garner patents and licenses without making a single good, or providing a single (good) service. The key here is simply to get firms to pay up for the privilege of continuing business as usual.
Speaking to PYMNTS at the IP 2017 confab, LOT Network CEO Ken Seddon stated that patent trolls are “lawyers who have taken advantage of the patent system. We all believe in patents. We want a strong patent system that protects innovation, but what patent trolls do is that they buy patents on the open market.” They then go around suing companies “purely for shakedown value.”