Given a rising number of patent infringement cases and a dearth of evidence to prove that they're benefiting anyone but the litigant lining his pockets, the Federal Trade Commission has said that it will launch an investigation into the practices of "patent trolls."
According to a NY Times report, FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez last week outlined recommendations to begin issuing subpeonas in a wide-reaching inquiry regarding "patent assertion entities," also known as PAEs and, more disparagingly, patent trolls.
Speaking at an anti-trust seminar in New York, Ramirez said that it was time to step in an investigate the practices of these companies.
"We have a role to play in advancing a greater understanding of the impact of PAE activity and using our enforcement authority where appropriate to curb anticompetitive and deceptive conduct," she said in the Times article.
Typically, the patent troll's MO is to buy patents from other patent-holders and then make money from them by threatening infringement litigation.
Of particular concern to Ramirez, are "privateering" patent trolls. In these cases, an operating company secretly transfers its patents to a PAE, which then uses the patents to harrass the company's competitors. Meanwhile, the original company maintains the appearance of uninvolvement.
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