Troll toll booth

Summary: How a patent troll helps reinforce the claims that software patents have a mortal cost, too

The Acacia troll (legalised extortion) has not been mentioned here for a while, but Acacia is still busy extorting and/or suing companies that actually make stuff. The latest example is a company that makes medical software, which makes one wonder about the human toll of patents.

Going back to 2007, we wrote a great deal about the subject of patents that restrict use of knowledge that either: 1) refers to anatomy/genetics or 2) can be applied to saving of lives. Some of the most compelling arguments against patents piggyback the medical field as a good example of the high societal cost of patents. It is a bit like the "think about the children" line. More on that in the next post. ⬆