Published in News

You can buy patent troll insurance

by on12 November 2014

US patent system is broken

The US patent system is so borked that start-ups are having to buy insurance to protect themselves from trolls. Whilst big-name tech firms are generally able to defend themselves against the threat of a frivolous lawsuit, smaller companies often end up settling.

Now startups can now buy protection against patent trolls. For a 'small' premium — said to be between $7,500 and $10,000, startups and small tech firms can buy coverage from RPX for up to $10 million against Non-Practising Entities (NPEs). That goes to either legal fees or a settlement in the event of a frivolous lawsuit from a NPE.

It could be that the insurance companies could put the fear of god into patent trolls by defending a few of their clients. However, given their past success in the health industry, we would have thought it will just get even messier.

Of course the US government could fix the patent system, but health companies have spent fortunes buying politicians to make sure that does not happen.

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