Scanner Patent Troll Slapped On The Wrist By FTC; Told To Stop Misleading Behavior.

from the it's-something dept

For a few years now, the FTC has talked about taking on patent trolls. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, we heard stories about the FTC putting patent trolls "on notice" and getting ready to crack down on them for deceptive practices. Last year, it finally "launched an investigation" into certain patent trolls, starting with notoriously crazy patent troll MPHJ, famous for its rather aggressive form of trolling, using a questionable patent on "scan-to-email" technology, sending out thousands of demand letters from a range of shell companies, telling lots of small businesses that they had to pay between $900 to $1200 per employee if they had a scanner with the "scan-to-email" function (most modern scanners).

Sensing it was in trouble, MPHJ tried suing the FTC (along with each of the five commissioners personally), arguing that the investigation violated its constitutional rights. Yeah, right. A few weeks ago, the courts rejected that plan, and now the FTC has reached something of a "settlement" with both MPHJ and the law firm it used, Farney Daniels, P.C., which allowed MPHJ to send out its demand letters on its own stationary.

Unfortunately, the "settlement" seems fairly weak. There's no money being paid. There's no admission of guilt. There's just a promise that MPHJ won't use certain deceptive tactics, such as claiming that others had already paid thousands of dollars for licenses, or threaten lawsuits unless the company is actually going to sue. It seems like a pretty minor slap on the wrist, getting at some of the worst behavior by MPHJ, but hardly doing much to stop lots of other egregious trolling actions. It's something, but a very minor something.

Filed Under: ftc, jay mac rust, patent trolls, patents, scanners
Companies: farney daniels, mphj