Peter Detkin, the assistant general counsel for Intel, coined the term “patent trolls†in the late 1990s, to describe his own impression of this new legal dwarf. FN3 According to Detkin, a patent troll is “somebody who tries to make a lot of money off a patent that they are not practicing and have no intention of practicing and in most cases never practiced.†FN4 In a business that collects more than $100 billion annually in licensing fees, FN5 these patent trolls are taking an ever increasing piece of the licensing pie for themselves, FN6 much to the chagrin of their prey.
368 In the past fifty years, the range of patentable subject matter has expanded exponentially. FN7 Today, patents are issued for software, genetic information, and even business methods. FN8 The number of patents issued annually has more than tripled in the past two decades FN9 to 169,296 in 2004. FN10 Additionally, intellectual property portfolios (of which patents are a major part) have become valuable assets for businesses and important tools in attracting investment and venture capital. FN11 Modern patents have an intrinsic value beyond merely the right to exclude competitors--they serve as powerful marketing tools FN12 and can have the same influence on a corporation's bottom line as tangible property assets. FN13 In fact, today's intellectual property is a key corporate asset precisely because it may be the primary driver of revenue. FN14
369 The rising speculation in intangible assets by patent trolls may indicate that patents are ready to evolve to the next level. Just as air space rights and carbon emissions before them, patents could be traded on stock exchanges. This evolution could take the form of a Patent Investment Trust, modeled on the popular Real Estate Investment Trust (“REITâ€). By authorizing a Patent Investment Trust (“PITâ€), the United States Congress could help create a public market based on patents and patent licensing, harnessing market power to provide capital for inventors and stabilizing speculation through more accurate patent prices and licensing fees.
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Wednesday 12 of August, 2009 14:31:19 GMT by Unknown
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Wednesday 12 of August, 2009 14:31:19 GMT by Unknown