Taking The Battle Against Patent Trolls To The Public
Patent trolls — a term known more among geeks than the general public — are about to be the target of a national ad campaign. Beginning Friday, a group of retail trade organizations is launching a radio and print campaign in 17 states.
They want to raise awareness of a problem they say is draining resources from business and raising prices for consumers.
Patent trolls, known officially as nonpracticing entities, or NPEs, are companies that don't make or sell anything. They just own patents. They make their money by getting licensing fees from businesses that use technologies covered by the patents they own.
For many years, these "trolls" largely targeted companies that make new technologies and develop software. But Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel for the Food Marketing Institute, one of the trade groups paying for the ads, says the patent trolls now target grocery stores, restaurants and clothing shops.
"We are not for the most part developing these technologies," he says. "We're simply using them." Among the other groups behind the ad campaign are the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation. The ad campaign is their way of fighting back against the patent trolls.