The United States is known as the land of opportunity - entrepreneurship and innovation are in our genes. Patents were initially designed into the U.S. Constitution as a way to protect ingenuity and innovation; however, there is a serious misuse and abuse of patents today.
Patent assertion entities (PAEs) or non-practicing entities (NPEs), misuse patents as a business strategy. These non-practicing entities, or so-called patent trolls, do not create products themselves; instead they bring lawsuits against those who do.
In 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted 300,000 patents, a 7% growth from the year prior, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Last year, patent holders also filed 6,500 litigation cases, a 25% rise from 2012. Non-practicing entities accounted for two-thirds of the infringement cases in 2013, a huge leap from 28% in 2009.[i] Non-practicing entities are stifling innovation because even though the patents asserted in the suit may be frivolous, it's often easier for smaller companies to settle out of court and pay a licensing fee to the NPEs, rather participate in a costly and time-consuming lawsuit.
According to a Boston University study, NPE lawsuits cost American companies more than $29 billion each year. Many small businesses cannot afford to fight back against non-practicing entities or get funding to continue their businesses. In addition, new innovations often do not come to market because of the threat and cost of litigation which places a drain on product investment and innovation.[ii] Another recent study by Catherine Tucker, a professor of marketing at MIT's Sloan School of Business, finds that over the last five years, VC investment would have likely been $21.772 billion higher but for litigation brought by frequent litigators. [iii] So what is being done about non-practicing entities? There are fourteen bills that have been introduced this Congress to deal with some aspect of the NPE issue. A few basic areas that are being addressed:
making the Covered Business Method review program available to more industries to allow them to deal with existing bad patents NPEs often assert
curbing abusive litigation tactics NPEs use
protecting end-users
adding transparency to get at who is really supplying NPEs with patents and with funding
Patent litigation reform aimed to curb abuse by non-practicing entities has been in the works, but has recently stalled when the latest legislative proposal was taken off the table in May.
Some legal experts think that the recent Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank decision by the Supreme Court may also have an effect on NPEs. This ruling says that an abstract idea applied to a generic computer is not enough to transform that idea into a patent-eligible invention. CLS Bank asserts that Alice is a non-practicing, patent assertion entity, and therefore, some lawsuits now pending will be resolved on summary disposition under section 101, which could halt the action of some NPEs.[iv] If the superfluous lawsuits disappear, then the remaining lawsuits have a more significant status. Therefore, legal discovery and protective orders become more important as plaintiffs and defendants strive for a sense of control, balance, and trust during the discovery phase of litigation.
At Iron Mountain, we deliver a Discovery Escrow Service that has been designed to simplify and facilitate pre-trial discovery to meet the needs of both parties by providing a secure and controlled environment that allows plaintiffs to access and examine the intellectual property in question, while eliminating the potential exposure and risk associated with defendants delivering that proprietary information directly to plaintiffs.
We believe legitimate litigation should be handled seriously. Iron Mountain is a trusted partner for legal discovery. If you would like more information on Iron Mountain's Discovery Escrow service, please visit our website at www.ironmountain.com/discoveryescrow or email me at john.boruvka@ironmountain.com or my colleague david.strouse@ironmountain.com and we'd be happy to discuss with you further.
Sources:
[i] http://www.fastcompany.com/3032870/fast-feed/patent-trolls-accounted-for-two-thirds-of-infringement-cases-in-2013?partner=rss
[ii] http://www.declareinnovation.com/Issues/Patent-Reform.aspx
[iii] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/new-study-suggests-patent-trolls-really-are-killing-startups/
[iv] http://fortune.com/2014/06/19/supreme-court-limits-the-scope-of-software-patents/
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
The United States is known as the land of opportunity - entrepreneurship and innovation are in our genes. Patents were initially designed into the U.S. Constitution as a way to protect ingenuity and innovation; however, there is a serious misuse and abuse of patents today.
