SHIELD Act Targeting Patent Trolls Re-Introduced; It's A Step In The Right Direction, But Just A Small One

from the need-more dept

Wed, Feb 27th 2013 8:00pm — Mike Masnick

As expected, the SHIELD Act, which would allow those sued by patent trolls over bogus patents to seek legal fees, has been reintroduced in Congress. As I said when the bill was originally introduced, I think it's a good thing, though just a very, very small step towards dealing with the larger problems of the patent system. I signed onto a letter from EFF and Engine Advocacy in support of the bill, but really wish we could go much further in reforming the system. Unfortunately, the story coming out of Congress is that while there may be some interest in this bill (and it's not clear if it's enough to pass), there is zero appetite for any additional changes. That's unfortunate.

The patent system today is a massive economic sinkhole. It is not contributing to innovation. It is not encouraging innovation. It is actively hindering it. Yes, it is making some patent lawyers very, very wealthy, and they don't want that to stop. But it is doing nothing to help the broader economy. That we can't even seem to take a serious look at what the patent system is doing to the innovation economy is really unfortunate.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: loser pays, patent trolling, patents, shield act

18 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 27 Feb 2013 @ 8:41pm

You're just playing whack-a-mole on part of HUGE problem,
which is the Thieving Rich and their devious ways of getting unearned income. You do point out that this is only making some thieves rich, but you stop short of the obvious, easy, and popular solution: TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE RICH.

Since the ways of stealing are so varied, it's a waste of time to try and block each one; however, it's easy to spot unearned income and confiscate it. -- That used to be the purpose of the "income tax", it was precisely and ONLY on UNEARNED INCOME, not wages. Of course, The Rich soon found ways to extend it to everyone so that general revenues from taxpayers flow into their pockets, not to the common good. -- We can't avoid whack-a-mole to keep up with their tricks, but must ALWAYS bear in mind that The Rich are thieves.

The Rich are those who excel at LACK of conscience with just enough smarts to "innovate" new methods of re-distributing wealth to themselves.

(YET there's a huge difference between those who GET rich by trading and those who steal -- meaning get unearned income -- and even worse are those Born Rich. I'm not against people becoming reasonably rich by fair trading, but soon as you admit that traders are a tiny portion of The Rich you'll see the problem with anyone inheriting huge "fortunes" of paper: it's nearly feudal entitlement.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2013 @ 8:55pm

Re: You're just playing whack-a-mole on part of HUGE problem,
Can we have a link to your manifesto?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2013 @ 9:00pm

Whole patent system seems to be threatening for protection money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
G Thompson (profile), 27 Feb 2013 @ 9:22pm

Re: Re: You're just playing whack-a-mole on part of HUGE problem,
Me too. I really want a link since I have searched and search and can not find anywhere anything that could even be called "Derp for Dummies"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pixelation, 27 Feb 2013 @ 9:30pm

"The LEGAL system today is a massive economic sinkhole."

FTFY
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2013 @ 9:31pm

Band-Aid on the Band-Aids perhaps?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2013 @ 9:43pm

They need to include something to make it where you do not have to pay your lawyer until you lose. It would prompt a lot more to actually fight these fucking troll scumbags.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2013 @ 12:20am

No massive helicarriers, no Nick Fury, no Iron man? Not much of a SHIELD Act.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
special-interesting (profile), 28 Feb 2013 @ 1:11am

Thanks Mike for your supporting letter to the heroes at EFF. I think a key phrase is �massive economic sinkhole� as in what portion of our GDP is lost to such nonsense. Greatness is never achieved through (monopolistic?) stagnation.

Whack-a-mole is one of my favorite games IRL. Its normal for problems to just pop up requiring the occasional whack. However how does one recognize the manufactured artificial problem? More importantly how do we deal with such a problem?

At the moment the patent system is (only) corrupt and does not even approach the corruption that the copyright system (which I think should be abolished) has attained. The shild-act would be the small step in the right direction you suggest.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 28 Feb 2013 @ 3:56am

Work like an ant, eat from the borders. That's how things will get changed, by slowly introducing them. Unfortunately.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2013 @ 5:19am

it would actually clear up many of the problems with the legal system in the US if you switched to a "loser pays" system, where the loser in a court case has to pay the (reasonable) legal fees of both sides in addition to any damages awarded. (reasonable fees being defined as the cost of hiring a lawyer of competence proportional to the case ( aka, no hiring an expensive lawyer simply as a deterrent to people filing suit. if you do, then the loser pays the reasonable part of the fee, you have to pay the rest. Obviously, this IS somewhat subjective, but it has the advantage of discouraging frivolous lawsuits, as well as encouraging people to actually fight frivolous lawsuits. ( the main non-SLAPP advanatge of frivolous lawsuits is they are often settled. If beating a frivolous lawsuit meant you didn't need to pay the legal fees, there is less incentive to settle.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

staff, 28 Feb 2013 @ 6:41am

more dissembling by Masnick
Lies and damned lies! These are mere dissemblings by huge multinational thieves and their paid puppets -some in Congress, in the White House and elsewhere in the federal government. Their intent is to pervert or weaken the patent system so it can only be used by them and no one else. Then they can rob at will and destroy their small competitors.

For the truth, please see http://www.truereform.piausa.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pi.ausa.5
http://piausa.wordpress.com/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Vic Kley, 28 Feb 2013 @ 8:34am

Your comments are entirely unsupported (as usual)
Masnick your site is now thoroughly littered with ads which exceed the size of your subject matter.

We are asked by you, a man with NO DEEP KNOWLEDGE of the inventive process, with noting more then the complaints of some of your drinking buddies in the valley, behind your whine to believe your utterances should influence the law of the land.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Aliasundercover, 28 Feb 2013 @ 9:09am

Write
Write your congress critter and support this. It may be fresh paint on a wrecked car but fixing patents has to start somewhere.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2013 @ 11:32am

Re: Your comments are entirely unsupported (as usual)
Yes, because Mike doesn't actually make the bulk of his income through his consulting business...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 28 Feb 2013 @ 1:00pm

Assuming it isn't crushed before it hits the floor for voting, it'll be interesting to see who exactly votes against this, as that'll be a nice and easy way to spot those that:

a) Have no idea how much damage patent trolls are causing the economy, and so are unfit for their positions for failing to become knowledgeable on such an important topic.

or

b) Don't care how much damage is being caused due to self-interest, and so are also unfit for their positions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2013 @ 3:35pm

Re:
There might be a Nick Fury; you just don't see him. Remember, he's a shapeshifter: he can look like David Hasslehoff one minute and Samuel L. Jackson the next.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Josh, 2 Apr 2013 @ 4:37pm

Re:
Australia does use a looser pays system and there does not seem to be patent trolls here. Otherwise patent and copyright laws in Australia are very similar to the USA due to the "free" trade agreement between Australia and the USA. It is possible the lack of patent trolls is purely to do with the size of the economy though.
[ link to this | view in thread ]