Name-calling is all Dominion Harbor can do when exposed

Summary: My experience speaking or responding to Dominion Harbor after it reacted to my articles using nothing but ad hominem attacks (which were also defamatory)

THIN-SKINNED patent trolls like Dominion Harbor Group are nothing new to us. Trolls don't like media exposure; they prefer to operate quietly behind the scenes, as far as possible from potential scrutiny.

"Trolls don't like media exposure; they prefer to operate quietly behind the scenes, as far as possible from potential scrutiny."When the media is noting (usually correctly) what the trolls are about to do their ability to shake down companies is severely harmed; in fact, many of these victimised companies can then start communicating with one another and organise collective action against the troll or the troll's patent/s. One troll once issued a paid-for press release attacking me (yes, in a press release) and trying to discredit a blog post of mine because it had revealed the troll's litigation intention before it could become a reality, thus undermining the strategy and scaring away their investors.

We have been writing about patent trolls for over a decade and Dominion Harbor Group alone, for example, was already covered in articles including:

• The United States' Patent System Lets Software Patents Rot, as Patent Trolls Take Over the System and Unrest Grows
• As the United States Shuts Its Door on Low-Quality Patents the Patent Trolls Move to Asia
• Patent Attacks on GNU/Linux Devices, Courtesy of Philips, Ericsson, Microsoft and Its Patent Trolls



• TC Heartland Puts Patent Trolls and the Eastern District of Texas in a Straitjacket, But EFF Wants Transparency Too
• Many Patents Are Being Passed to Android-Hostile Patent Trolls (by the Thousands) and Microsoft is in the Shadows
• IBM Helps a Microsoft-Connected Patent Troll Create Another Trolling Branch, Known as Finjan Blue



• Dominion Harbor Group (DHG) is a Patent Troll Connected to Intellectual Ventures
• Microsoft's Troll Intellectual Ventures, via Dominion Harbor, Goes Patent-Trolling in China
• Trolls Roundup: Buying up the Competition Using Patents and the Post-TC Heartland Figures

Recently, Dominion Harbor Group decided to 'troll' me a little bit; not in the patent sense (they cannot) but more in the "Internet trolling" sense. There's a lot of context to this online; it can be found in Twitter (about three dozen tweets). To keep it succinct, much of this started when Tom Hochstatter‏, who now works for the above-mentioned patent troll down in Texas, was doing attacks on me because I had exposed them. Reposting libel is what he did. What he dubbed "fellows Linux peers" was Microsoft AstroTurfing in a blog dedicated just to attacking 10 Linux advocates, by making stuff up about them. I responded by telling Hochstatter‏, "if this is the best dirt (defamation) you can dig on me, then you're low on material and just reproducing lies..."

Hochstatter's boss, David Pridham,‏ then foolishly joined in. Yes, his boss wrote to me: "Sorry bro. You have been exposed. Listen to the podcast @IP_Frequently @DominionHarbor @ipwire"

Actually, I have not been "exposed" for anything; it's Dominion Harbor Group which is being exposed. I'm merely reporting the findings.

"Recently, Dominion Harbor Group decided to 'troll' me a little bit; not in the patent sense (they cannot) but more in the "Internet trolling" sense."Notice their use of the hashtag "inventorsfirst"; it sounds like the racist motto "Britain first" or "America first". Anyway, there seems to be little to this troll other than Hochstatter's account, a blog, and a podcast that nobody seems to listen to. Pridham has very little following and the same goes for the troll's official account. As it turns out, they did a whole episode just about me.

"We've been operating as desired since our 2013 founding," they told me, "at record levels each year b/c we help inventors & overcome efficient infringers."

That's because of trolling and extortion. Not much to brag about...

"We're a 4 year old firm," they added, but that's not new to us. Buying patents to attack companies in Texas with its biased courts is "nothing more than PAE-type patent trolling," I told the troll.

Citing a blog post from a month ago, Hochstatter told me: "We promised to call out efficient infringer apologists..."

"Notice their use of the hashtag "inventorsfirst"; it sounds like the racist motto "Britain first" or "America first"."For those who don't know, "efficient infringer" is a relatively new propaganda term typically used by patent extremists like Watchtroll.

That's what they basically tend to call technology companies, no matter the size of these companies. The blog post quickly reveals that these people are trolls denialists like IAM, a site funded by these. To them, no such thing exists. "Trolls" are to them what "climate change" is to Donald Trump.

The trolls wanted me to come on their podcast, but the "audience is far too small to be worth it," I responded (at the time, the latest episode had just 8 page views).

When I pointed out to them that they are trolling (as they do), their official account, "Dominion Harbor IP", said: "What's with name calling? We're a valued/valuable patent middleman helping inventors & operators connect efficiently #notatroll #notapae"

I then asked them: "What products do you offer?"

""Trolls" are to them what "climate change" is to Donald Trump."They never replied.

It's a litigation front, masquerading/disguising itself using terms like "Premier Patent Advisory & Transactions."

The bottom line is, they are trolls, but are afraid of being publicly recognised as such because it weakens their leverage power behind closed doors or in courts.

At the end, the troll resorted only to insults. The troll's CEO wrote: "It seems we have hit a nerve with the copyright thief!"

Copyright thief?

"At the end, the troll resorted only to insults."I said I hadn't updated my Web site for the past decade. This patent troll therefore calls me "copyright thief"! Because I don't have time to update my personal site anymore? How odd. What does one thing have to do with the other? At this stage they simply reverted to private communication (perhaps not liking all the above happening in public).

The troll's CEO could not end this amicably. He threw another insult at me like an Internet troll: "Do you get the signal in your mom's basement? #copyrightthief"

I've not lived with my parents since I was 18 and the "copyrightthief" is, again, totally baseless.

Remember: this is a CEO (seriously!) of a company which claims to be "Premier Patent Advisory & Transactions."

"They don't even act like adults and the CEO never became a grown-up."It's not just a patent troll but also an infantile, trollish entity. This kind of behaviour (of the CEO of a patent troll in Texas, flinging insults after losing an argument) says quite a lot about Dominion Harbor. They don't even act like adults and the CEO never became a grown-up.

Generally speaking, this isn't an unusual experience. When patent trolls try to confront me it always, at the end, backfires on them. Why do they even bother? Poor, tactless behaviour. ⬆