White Paper: A Case Study of Patent Abuse (Part I): Printing Industry Faces New Nemesis Impacting Growth and Employment - Patent Trolls (PDF)

Patent trolls, the epitome of greed, thoughtlessness, and unethical behavior, are impacting the survival, growth, and development of printing and related companies. Patent trolls are inhibiting growth and are causing printing companies to consider closing, downsizing, and laying off employees because they cannot afford to absorb the huge fees being demanded by the trolls, while also maintaining or growing business. The trolls are equivalent to extortionists with no sense of business morals and ethics, or of the nation’s push to grow companies, produce jobs, and keep or bring back as much business as possible to the United States.

The hypothesis of this study is that companies faced with the threat of patent troll litigation should not settle by paying license fees, but should partner in pooling resources to pursue invalidation of the patents in question. Such challenges are often won, and between 35% and 85% of patents being invalid has been reported.

What follows is the full white paper, by By Harvey R. Levenson, Ph. D., with advice on what a printer should do if faced with a patent litigation threat, how recent patent troll cases have played out in the courts and available resources.

Click here to read the second part of this white paper: White Paper: A Case Study of Patent Abuse (PART II): Patent Trolls on the Run