Former Patent Troll Admits That Patent Trolls Are Bad For Business And Innovation

from the speak-up dept

I've spoken to a few patent attorneys who have fought against patent trolls who have admitted to me that, at times, it's quite tempting to give up and join the other side, since patent trolling is fairly easy and incredibly lucrative. You just have to sell your soul and give up the idea that you're doing anything productive or good in the world, and instead become a pure bottom feeder. Someone who did exactly that is apparently Ira Blumberg, who is now speaking out about his experiences working on "the dark side" of patent trolling. Blumberg didn't end up going to one of those tiny patent trolls, but rather left a job at Intel to go work for Rambus, a company not everyone considers to be a patent troll, but which certainly has a history of being an aggressive patent litigant. From Rambus, Blumberg then joined the world's largest patent troll, Intellectual Ventures. He eventually left IV and is now at Lenovo. So he's been actively on both sides of the patent troll situation -- as an active participant in suing operating companies while working for companies that did nothing but license, and at companies that are relentlessly pursued by patent trolls.

And he's now willing to speak out and say that patent trolling is just bad. He mostly uses the more politically correct "PAE" or "patent assertion entity" rather than patent troll throughout the article.
It is now abundantly clear to me that PAEs are, in net, detrimental to business and innovation. Despite what they say, trolls are not making the world a better place for anyone. It is time they lay down their arms and allow companies to use the patent system in the way in which it was intended.
He also has no problem admitting the reality of most patent trolling: that it's not about quality patents. In fact, crappy patents are pretty good for trolling:
The sad reality is that the patents used by trolls do not need to be good for IV, or any PAE, to make money. Quality is not an issue when it costs $2-$3 million to find out whether a patent claim has merit, whereas settling costs “just” $500,000-$1 million. Trolls often aggressively push for extortionate settlements that far surpass the value of the IP because they know many companies will choose to settle rather than get embroiled in an expensive and drawn-out lawsuit. Their actions can wreak havoc on tech companies of all sizes.
Blumberg does note that patent trolls and their supporters claim that such companies are the only way to get independent inventors paid, but notes that this is not what's happening in reality:
In theory, there is some validity to this argument. It is true that individual inventors and smaller companies are not always well-compensated for their inventions. But in reality, the harm businesses suffer on this front is significantly outweighed by the harm caused by the exorbitant costs of patent litigation lawsuits. The settlements IV gains from tens of thousands of patents is vastly out of proportion with the value of the innovation being licensed.
Of course, he could go much further than that. First off, there are lots of ways for inventors to make money other than selling out to trolls. If their invention is really good, they can work with a company (or build one) to produce it. Some respond that some people don't want to do that, and to some extent the response is "too bad." There are lots of people who don't want to work for a living, and we don't necessarily say that companies have an obligation to pay them anyway. But, even if someone just wants to invent, they could easily team up with another entity to pass off their ideas and let that other company build them with a contractual agreement for royalties or some similar arrangement. The idea that you need patent trolls to provide liquidity is greatly exaggerated.

And this doesn't even get into the issue of how valuable patents are, really. It's quite rare that patents are actually disclosing true inventions in the tech space. Almost all patent disuptes are ones involving totally independent invention, where it's not the invention that's important, but the execution. And yet, patent holders and patent trolls like to pretend the idea is much more valuable than the execution.

Either way, it's good to see people like Blumberg recognize how dangerous his former employers have been to the world of innovation and to speak out about it. He's asking more people to speak out as well.
As someone who has spent time on both sides, I feel a call to speak out against frivolous and overpriced patent litigation. The work I did for both PAEs and corporations was certainly legal, but not the same: While I was always on the right side of the law, I prefer being on the right side of innovation.

Companies want to create technologies that matter five years from now and beyond, so patents continue to matter. Frivolous lawsuits and those demanding damages far in excess of the value of the allegedly infringed patent detract from our ability to push innovation and better products forward. I hope that many more voices in tech will join mine in decrying the harmful effects of needless patent litigation — our future depends on it.
Hide this

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: harm, innovation, ira blumberg, patent troll, patents
Companies: intellectual ventures, lenovo, rambus


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Whatever (profile), 13 Jun 2016 @ 4:03pm

    The story is much easier to understand if you consider it like someone changing teams. He was paid to protect IP, now he's paid to license IP. Of course, in his current position, he wants the other side to be weaker so his employer can get better deals (or not pay to use IP).

    Hard to take it seriously, he's got plenty of financial motivation to trash the other side.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2016 @ 6:06pm

      Re:

      So if the MPAA funds a study to say that suing people based on IP addresses without oversight is an effective anti-piracy strategy, can the study be ignored on the basis that there is plenty of financial motivation to put out results the MPAA wants?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2016 @ 5:36pm

    It's quite rare that patents are actually disclosing true inventions in the tech space. Almost all patent disuptes are ones involving totally independent invention, where it's not the invention that's important, but the execution.

    Citation needed.

    By the way, it's always interesting to see claims (like Blumberg's) that the costs outweigh the benefits, yet nobody ever seems to quantify the benefits. Strange that you don't point out this obvious flaw. I guess you'll take any anecdote that backs up your preconceived notions.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2016 @ 5:45pm

      Re:

      Have you ever tried listing them? Or do you think that shell companies suing small companies for using a scanner to send a scanned document attached to an email message is beneficial?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2016 @ 5:57pm

        Re: Re:

        Part of the problem with many cost studies is that they focus on litigation, which is a small percentage of the licensing world. Litigation only happens when licensing breaks down, and most licensing is private and isn't public knowledge. It's notoriously difficult to measure this stuff. That's why I find conclusory claims, like Blumberg's, that costs outweigh benefits quite suspect. He can't back that up.

        As far as your point, I would question whether the use was actually infringing. Crazy thought, I know.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2016 @ 10:31pm

      Re:

      The benefits have been quantified time and time again.

      Parasites like you belong in jail for the obscene damage you do to the economy and our future. You have nothing but my contempt and I hope you end up in a soup kitchen line in the near future.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2016 @ 4:59am

      Re:

      Strange that you did not search for an answer to your own question before posing it here.

      Pro Tip: Use "the Google" to find links to articles on many different subjects of interest. For example

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike Masnick (profile), 14 Jun 2016 @ 10:38am

      Re:

      By the way, it's always interesting to see claims (like Blumberg's) that the costs outweigh the benefits, yet nobody ever seems to quantify the benefits. Strange that you don't point out this obvious flaw.

      There are tons of studies highlighting the massive costs to the patent system. As well as the very tiny benefits. That you apparently can't find them perhaps says more about what you're paid to say rather than reality.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mr Big Content, 13 Jun 2016 @ 8:55pm

    But He Would Say That, Wouldnt He

    What do you expect from somebody who's business is NOT Patent Trolling? Of COURSE hes going to say Patent Trolling is bad. He can no longer remember HOW GOOD IT IS!!! Only people who HAVE BEEN TROLLING TODAY have a Right to say whether its Right or Wrong or Not. DONT BELEIVE TEH SECOND-HAND LIES!!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2016 @ 1:19am

    Simple solution: loser pays. That will kill off 99% of frivolous patent litigation.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2016 @ 3:34am

    Sleazeball trying to find heaven

    With cash no doubt as he is the VP of IP for the new company.

    Still a sleazeball patent attorney. The only way out is down.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      DannyB (profile), 14 Jun 2016 @ 6:28am

      Re: Sleazeball trying to find heaven

      Continuing to use a euphemism such as PAE instead of the words 'patent troll' says a lot. It suggests one has not fully embraced or even grasped just how damaging patent trolling really is. Blindness to see the true damage left in its wake.

      How about let's compromise and use PTE (Patent Trolling Entity) which is perhaps more friendly than just plain Patent Troll.

      Intellectual Vultures is the biggest PTE around. To nobody's surprise funded by an ex Microsoftie.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    afn29129 (profile), 14 Jun 2016 @ 5:18am

    Integrity lost

    Once a person has sold their integrity to the darkside (patent trolling) it's not that easy to regain. So if person has had an honest change of heart... good luck. it's going to be a hard climb out of the much.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.