iPEL, PFE and the "ethical" or "SME" slant -- similar tricks, same timing

Keep saying "ethical" and maybe some gullible people will eventually believe it

Summary: Two PR stunts, one in Europe and another in the US, try to paint notorious patent trolls (nowadays subjected to a hostile litigation terrain) as "good for small businesses"; but nothing could be further from the truth because small businesses suffer from trolls the most

THE PATENT TROLLS are down for the count, but it's not a knockout just yet. They keep coming up with all sorts of tricks and workarounds. They also try to better disguise themselves using shells and proxies (Intellectual Ventures, for instance, has many thousands of these). Some of these trolls can no longer drag their victims to Texas. Yesterday Docket Navigator took note of TC Heartland in the courts, potentially helping the defendant dodge litigation in patent trolls-centric districts. In Princeton Digital Image Corporation v Ubisoft Entertainment SA, according to the Docket Report, "[t]he magistrate judge recommended denying defendant's motion to dismiss or transfer for improper venue and rejected defendant's argument that it did not waive its objection to venue because the objection was not available until the court dismissed another defendant."

"It turns out that, having fed the world's largest troll (Intellectual Ventures), this Korean company is now feeding some of Canada's very worst patent trolls."So no luck this time. But it's too early to tell the eventuality. Meanwhile, Jacob Schindler from IAM (the trolls' lobby) spoke of MagnaChip Semiconductor. It turns out that, having fed the world's largest troll (Intellectual Ventures), this Korean company is now feeding some of Canada's very worst patent trolls. IAM seems happy about it, as one might expect. IAM is funded by these trolls. Literally. WiLAN, which we last mentioned earlier this year (several times in fact) is the latest recipient for "trolling mode" (what IAM euphemistically calls "monetisation mode"). To quote:

WiLAN announced yesterday that it has acquired a patent portfolio totaling over 85 assets from Seoul-based MagnaChip Semiconductor. The transaction is part of WiLAN’s partnership programme. The deal marks the latest in a steady stream of acquisitions by the Canadian licensing company, and a comeback NPE deal for the Korea firm, which sold patents to Intellectual Ventures in 2009. The USPTO records a transaction from MagnaChip to Carthage Silicon Innovations LLC four days ago. The full assignment documents aren’t yet available, but there are nine listed US assets so far

This troll is Canadian and the so-called inventors Korean. Does that help dodge decisions such as TC Heartland? Is there a precedent for that?

"The trolls know that their public image is deservedly bad, so they've initiated some PR campaigns rather than change their behaviour."Either way, there are some patent trolls which Watchtroll is helping to paint as "ethical" this week, accompanying the highly misleading press release. We already responded to that, but Josh Landau (CCIA) did further research and rebutted as follows some time yesterday:

Non-practicing entities (NPEs) are generally companies with only one asset—their patents. So why would an NPE give away licenses to the only things it can generate value from? If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it might be.

Act Now For A Free Patent License!

iPEL (Innovative Patents, Ethical Licensing) is a new NPE, formed by self-described “patent monetizer” Brian Yates (formerly of IP Prognosis and hundreds of shell companies—more on that below) and Rasheed McWilliams (a litigator). It’s offering licenses to its portfolio until the end of the year, and those licenses are free to companies with less than $5 million in annual revenue.

Free stuff isn’t always good, and the details of the licenses suggest why they might not be all that good for the licensees.

Well, read on; like a true "CCIA agent" -- for lack of a better term -- Landau comes at the right time/moment and sheds light on this kind of scam/sham, which resembles Patent Factory Europe (PFE), also announced in Europe about a week ago (in 'partnership' with IAM). The notion of "ethical" trolls is about as sane as "ethical" oil spills. Don't fall for it. The trolls know that their public image is deservedly bad, so they've initiated some PR campaigns rather than change their behaviour. ⬆