Friday, February 24, 2006

Big Surprise: Patent Trolls Feed On Technology

Via CBS News.

A federal judge put off ruling Friday in a patent-infringement lawsuit that could have shut down service to BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices nationwide. The suit was filed by a specialized firm that owns patented ideas and charges others to use them. Those who don't pay up get sued, reports Mika Brzezinski, and it can be a very lucrative business.

It starts with a piece of paper. Explains Alexander Poltorak, CEO of the General Patent Corporation, "If you have invented a new gadget or if you have invented a new process or method, go ahead and file a patent application."

Poltorak calls his clients technology inventors. Critics call them something else: Patent trolls.

More here.

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