The Federal Trade Commission (announced) that it stands ready to take on (so-called non-practicing entities a.k.a. …) patent trolls. In a speech at the National Press Club, Commissioner Edith Ramirez made two big announcements. First, she revealed that the FTC will conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the conduct of patent trolls. Second, she confirmed that, when appropriate, the FTC is committed to using its antitrust enforcement powers. This is great news for innovation and very bad news for trolls.
Cook Alex’s Take on Vague Patents:
The FTC has played a crucial role in the larger debate. In 2011, the FTC published a note-worthy report on the problems caused by vague patents. Patent trolls often times operate behind the scenes behind a web of shell companies. By using its authority under section 6(b) of the FTC Act, the agency will be able to use its subpoena power to discover a troll’s underlying structure and agenda.
Cook Alex stands committed to offering clients strong protection of their intellectual property, and understands the importance of inventors’ business objectives. True innovation changes our world for the better, but only if it makes its way out of the lab and into the marketplace with the support of solid IP protection.
Cook Alex’s clients are mostly small-to-medium size companies that are practicing entities. Those companies expect to build their businesses around innovations for products they will be selling. High quality IP protection at an affordable cost helps them to compete when they break into the market and existing players want to include those innovative features in competing products.
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[white_space height=”4px”]This was a commentary on an article called “Bad News For Patent Trolls! FTC To Look Under the Hood of the Trollmobile” by Daniel Nazer of eff.org. Read it.
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