THE site/'magazine' known as IAM is quite a riddle. Actually, it's not much of a riddle; it's more like a think tank and it no longer does a good job hiding it. Just watch what it covers almost every day this year.
"So a Korean patent troll, having a go in the US, loses."Alluding to a case of a Korean troll-like entity, ETRI, and Huawei (China), a reasonably OK site said: "A Korean patent company behind a slew of infringement suits is actually just a litigation agent for the true patent holder and therefore doesn’t have standing in court, a California federal judge ruled in a Monday decision dismissing a long-running case against Huawei Technologies Co."
So a Korean patent troll, having a go in the US, loses. IAM, on the other hand, called this a campaign to "monetise IP". Note that the plaintiff is actually called "SPH America, LLC" (classic cover for a troll); IAM says it's dubbed “litigation agent”, but it's actually a troll -- a word that hardly exists in IAM's lexicon because it's a trolls denialist that is funded by some trolls. It denies that companies that are patent trolls actually are trolls! Talk about whitewashing or reputation laundering.
"It denies that companies that are patent trolls actually are trolls! Talk about whitewashing or reputation laundering."The lobbying site of trolls, IAM, also seems upset this week at claims of troll (re)surgence (challenge to the UPC actually), in this much belated post about IP2Innovate (IP2I). To quote: "Just as important, it seems to me, is that beyond equating trolls with patent assertion entities, IP2I provides no definitions of what it is that it is actually referring to. So, while it is certainly true that some do directly equate PAEs with trolls, it is equally the case that many others do not. That would include IAM, for example."
IAM is funded by trolls. It's in bed with them. It's basically trying to groom them and it challenges those who dare point out that there is a problem. It was actually IAM itself, as we covered before, admitting a surge in NPE (not PAE) activity in Germany. What is this if not trolling? IAM itself admitted, back in late March, that troll litigation in Germany was booming. Suddenly it's upset that IP2I says the same thing? We guess they're so desperate for the UPC, so seeing the IP2I antagonising it makes IAM's paymasters sweat a little. Facts are temporarily suspended, as usual, and IAM tries to delegitimise and discredit IP2I.
"Sites like IAM still deny that trolls exist, so while they do know that there's a rise in troll activity in Europe they just don't want it to be called "troll activity"."Remember that IAM also attacked the FTC's report on PAEs, i.e. patent trolls. Why even carry on pretending it's a news site? It's a think tank for the highest bidder. It keeps attacking every single threat to trolls. Even refuting its own reporting when it suits it! "The evidence was," as I explained yesterday, "among other places, in IAM itself..."
Sites like IAM still deny that trolls exist, so while they do know that there's a rise in troll activity in Europe they just don't want it to be called "troll activity". They use all sorts of euphemisms (like "monetise IP" above).
"Of the 12 patent suits filed today," wrote United for Patent Reform a short while ago, "11 were filed by patent trolls -- that's 92%."
"Right now in Europe the proportion of troll lawsuits is still low, but it is rising sharply. The UPC, if it ever became more than a sordid fantasy, would accelerate this."Imagine what will happen if this comes to Europe. Right now in Europe the proportion of troll lawsuits is still low, but it is rising sharply. The UPC, if it ever become more than a sordid fantasy, would accelerate this.
The matter of fact is, the world is becoming a tough place for trolls. Some go bankrupt and some try to reinvent themselves. Canada's most notorious patent troll, for example, is obviously failing and trying to do something else now, as even IAM admits right now. To quote:
Yesterday’s news that WiLAN will purchase an Internet of Things (IoT) business as it looks to diversify away from patent licensing represented another nail in the coffin of the NPE sector as we know it.
WiLAN is acquiring International Road Dynamics, an Industrial IoT business, for $47.7 million and following that deal will change its name to Quarterhill. WiLAN will then become the patent licensing subsidiary of the new business, responsible for monetising the more than 10,000 patent assets that the Canadian NPE has built up in the US alone. The company is not jettisoning patent licensing completely but in an interview this morning CEO Jim Skippen made clear that the business is no longer convinced that investing in patent deals is the right approach. “We will look at patent acquisitions but more and more we’re not sure that investing significant amounts of capital in patents really makes sense for us,” he said.