Which Patent Is A Threat To Your Business?

Would you prefer a knife in the back or a punch on the nose?

Patent assertions are a competitive business, as a number of very large, well-funded organizations compete for patent ownership all having one goal in mind: profit.  As to one of these organizations, Rick Merrit writes:

RPX competes with at least two other companies. Intellectual Ventures started the trend of protecting product companies against NPE suits, but according to reports grew to become a threat to some of its member companies.

via As patent suits rise, RPX claims wins.

Apparently, RPX is contrasted with IV to suggest that RPX is not a threat to its member companies.  If you’ve followed my discussions on RPX, you already know what I think about that.

Other patent owners, like Acacia, make direct allegations against operating companies, and take those companies to trial when necessary.  Intellectual Ventures, despite its initial avoidance of litigation, always employed a licensing model closer to Acacia’s than RPX’s.  Meanwhile, RPX continues to enjoy news coverage painting it as a friend to industry, despite what simple logic might tell you.

Related Articles

• Patent Licensing Firm Acacia Offers Public Equity (gametimeip.com)
• RPX IPO: Patent Aggregation, Terrorists and Goldilocks (gametimeip.com)
• RIM Becomes Intellectual Ventures’ Latest Patent License Holder (patentcalls.com)
• Why Is RPX Going Public? Ask Willie Sutton (gametimeip.com)
• Digitude’s New Patent Monetization Plan – Friend Or Foe To Inventors? (gametimeip.com)