Patent Cartels Galore: RPX IPO, Acacia Moves Racketeering Operation to Texas

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2011-01-26 14:32:29 UTC
Modified: 2011-01-26 14:32:29 UTC

Summary: New evidence that today's rising powers under USPTO reign produce nothing but push a lot of legal papers around

An entity called RPX -- unlike the OIN -- operates very privately and it is called a "Patent Risk Advisory Firm" in the following news about its filing for an IPO:

“Defensive patent aggregator” RPX (Rational Patent) filed an S-1 form with the SEC on Friday, stating its intention to go public. According to the form, RPX is looking to sell up to $100 million of its shares in an IPO underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Allen & Company LLC and others.

Microsoft is also among the subscribers of RPX, but not the OIN's, obviously. We found coverage of this news also in:

RPX may seem rather benign for now, but just like other cartel of its kind, there is no guarantee that it will stay this way. Then we have blatantly hostile cartel-type pseudo-businesses such as Acacia, which attacked Linux several times using litigation. Acacia seems to be migrating close to where patents litigation galore takes place. The improper headline is "Acacia Moves Licensing Business to Texas" which falsely implies that Acacia actually does "business" rather than just extort and litigate.

Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. said Tuesday it moved its patent licensing unit to Texas.

The unit, dubbed Acacia Research Group LLC, has relocated its headquarters to Frisco, Texas.

The group does “business development and licensing activities of patent portfolios in a wide range of technology disciplines,” the company said.

The company makes money by acquiring patents, striking licensing deals and collecting a cut of royalties from companies that appear to be infringing on them.

Aggregators/hoarders such as CPTN, Intellectual Ventures, RPX, and Acacia help show that the USPTO has gone all wrong. This 'cartelisation' of the industry prevents many new companies from emerging and thus impedes competition, along with innovation. ⬆

Comments

Patrick

2011-02-01 04:14:54

A simple point of order with respect to RPX, cartels involve cooperation and trust between firms. Protection racket might be a more fitting term.

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2011-02-01 04:58:14

Thanks for the link. It will be handy later.

patent litigation

2011-02-08 00:03:12

Ever since Intellectual Ventures finally started suing, I no longer believe the claims of any entity that it is obtaining patents for "defensive purposes only." Will RPX be able to resist the siren song of patent litigation?

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Patent Cartels Galore: RPX IPO, Acacia Moves Racketeering Operation to Texas

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