Ballad of the Patent Troll

General Patent Corporation may be a dull-sounding name, but from the company's Wealth of Ideas newsletter comes something worth watching and highly thought-provoking -- "The Ballad of the Patent Troll" (for which, click here). According to the text,

"Everyone knows about patent trolls and the mischief they wreak, keeping attorneys busy and flooding the courts with patent infringement litigation. Put that way, the "non-practicing entity" (meaning the "troll") is an unsympathetic figure indeed.

However, what few people stop to consider is that these "trolls" are legitimate patent owners with legitimate patent rights, and that there are some very valid reasons why an inventor or institution might patent inventions without bringing them to market.

To counter popular misconceptions about patent rights, we at GPC have produced a short video called "The Ballad of the Patent Troll." It is based on an article by GPC's Chairman and CEO, Alexander Poltorak, and that article is this month's newsletter feature.

"The Ballad of the Patent Troll" (in both video and article form) takes a humorous look at non-practicing entities and the truth about patent rights. The article originally appeared in Making Innovation Pay - Turning IP into Shareholder Value, ed. B. Berman, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, Inc., 2006".

For those who prefer the printed word, the text of the ballad goes like this:

"On the road of innovation
Sits an ugly Patent Troll.
From the largest corporations
He extorts a patent toll.

Armed with mighty patent claims,
Claiming willfulness and tort,
Treble damages and pains
He drags infringers into court.

Faster than a Rocket-docket
He sticks his hand into your pocket.
Troll, disguised as an inventor,
Will deprive you of your splendor.

First ignore him, then DJ him,
Try to motion him to death.
At the end you’ll have to pay him.
Troll will share in your wealth.

Casting wide a patent net,
All infringers he will get.
Faced with permanent injunction
Ask for Rule 11 sanction!

Raise your laches and estoppel,
102 and 103…
Your defenses Troll will trample –
You will end as licensee.

Your resistance is futile
Patent Troll is strong and vile.
Wielding claim as an ax
He’ll exact his patent tax.

Corporations, be united!
He who slays the Patent Troll,
By the Queen he will be knighted
And exalted by us all".

Alexander Poltorak then goes on to debunk the myths one by one, in masterly fashion. Nice one!