The draft law Obama for bypassing the patents trolls

The "patent trolls" could soon be a lot harder to carry out their activities on U.S. soil. The Obama administration had promised indeed that reforms were being developed and a bill could lead for the first time a very significant change in the legal process currently allows "trolls" to impose their rule.

Obama against vampires

The patent trolls are companies operating in particular. In themselves, they do not produce anything or nothing. They are characterized by an activity or almost exclusively focused on intellectual property. This can be through a long process of research and development that the company decides to live, or a grouping of several patent portfolios from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Tesla, Qualcomm, so on..

The purpose of a patent troll is primarily to enhance the portfolio. Intellectual property is no longer a shield, but a powerful weapon for many purposes. Two in particular are particularly common: kneel small and medium enterprises to interfere vampirize resources and the development of a strong competitor. Thus we recently discussed the case of Lodsys, which punctures dozens of companies to obtain a particularly effective rent as most affected businesses wish to avoid trial.

The obligation to detail the complaints

The patent trolls have a very negative impact on the business world because they divert the forces that drive the traditional companies. Energy which is then not invested in the design of actual products but that materializes in the form of a few dollars in bank accounts. The Obama administration is aware of the problem, there was promised several months that legislative efforts would be made for bypassing the work of patent trolls and limit their impact on the operation of enterprises.

This bill is now known, and he attacks a large part of the activities of trolls. Several aspects are discussed, starting with the complaint itself in court. You should know that currently, when a company files a complaint for patent infringement, the original document contains a few pages do not necessarily give a lot of details. In fact, it is sometimes not possible to know exactly what this violation, and what are the specific points on the contested society.

 If the new law was passed in the state, the situation is very different. The complainant should provide essential from the outset all the details. An amendment that would have two major consequences. On the one hand, the contested company not exactly what to expect and how to defend themselves. On the other hand, and this is clearly an important issue, the creation of the complaint will require a lot more work to the complainant. In the case of a patent troll, this aspect will increase the operational cost structure that precisely seek to reduce to the maximum.

More procedure without pay     

Second important point: the costs in case of failure in the process. The draft provides that if the company submitting the complaint is ultimately dismissed, she will have to pay fees. Until now, this was not the case, and the result will be that a company will have to think twice. However, if it is needed to be passed, this law obviously does not affect the patent trolls, but also more conventional trial, like those between Apple and Samsung. This particular aspect is designed to appease the whims of companies who use the courts systematically too. 

Third point: the "evidence." Size change is expected as only those elements that have a direct connection with the detailed in the complaint points will be supported in the first sentence of the procedure. This will prevent the elements are added gradually to the file, extending the duration of the trial and increasing fees for the defense.

Transparency: The parent company is systematically involved  

The draft law also provides for a significant break in the way the parties will be represented. On the one hand, the relationship between the parent companies, branches, shell companies and so should always be disclosed. Thus, all natural or legal persons having a "financial interest" in the proceedings will have to be declared. In case of a complaint, it is the highest entity that will take care of filing the complaint, this in the interests of transparency. 

If this law were to pass, it would short-circuit also another method used by patent trolls: a complaint against users of technology rather than against the company that is at the origin. Here, we directly affects the activity of Lodsys owner who feels particularly patents on in-app purchases. Thus, Lodsys does not fight against Apple, but directly against the small companies that develop applications for iOS. Despite the intervention of Apple, Lodsys has received royalties from a large number of these structures, frightened at the idea of ​​spending more than a million dollars in a lawsuit that would engulf their entire budget. With the new law, a "parenthesis" is open to force the attacker to first confront the initiator of the technology before moving on to those who use it.

Applauded consensus but does not solve all problems

l should be noted, however, that even if the text is a crucial step in the fight against patent trolls, it can not address all situations. For example it would have been effective in cases such as Rambus and SCO, it will be ineffective on Lodsys in most cases. Why? Just because the draft related the courts: Lodsys negotiates directly from small publishers to get his royalties.

However, the project represents hope therefore to calm the game in the area of ​​claims for infringement of patents. He has more chance of being adopted it is worn by prominent members of the two major U.S. political parties and establishes a consensus. In addition, it is clearly applauded by organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Computer and Communications Industry Associatio