Summary: In China too, as expected, local companies are becoming rather disgusted by a wave of patent trolls, enabled by misguided officials and bad advice from the likes of IAM (which sets up events in China at the behest of the patent microcosm)

THE largest producing economy, China, is now attracting trolls affiliated with Intellectual Ventures, the world's largest troll.

China has rapidly become the world's trolling hub. IAM too is aware of it, having actively promoted this. Yesterday it wrote about what the Chinese call patent trolls. This is what happens in China now that it creates a trolls epidemic: (bear in mind IAM is a trolls denialist)

The coining of the term ‘patent troll’ was a key moment in what eventually became a major backlash against non-practising entities (NPE) in the United Sates. Originally thought up within Intel in 1999, the catchy (some would say prejudicial) moniker was soon being employed by leading media outlets. Even if juries or newspaper readers do not know patents, they have almost certainly heard about trolls - and they know that they are "bad". While some judges have banned the term from their courtrooms, studies suggest it is still widely used in news coverage.

Nearly two decades after ‘troll’ rhetoric emerged in the US, NPEs are becoming much more active in China, where NPE litigation is a comparatively new phenomenon. But NPEs are not a new concept to Chinese companies. Foreign NPEs have filed an increasing number of lawsuits in the country over the past year, though most of these have targeted non-domestic companies. As this trend continues, it is interesting to see how these activities are being portrayed in the Chinese media and through the Chinese language.

What IAM calls "NPEs" just means patent trolls, i.e. some of those that are in bed with IAM. But terminology aside, it's clear that even IAM recognises the problem (not a problem for law firms, just for actual companies that produce something).

"...it's clear that even IAM recognises the problem (not a problem for law firms, just for actual companies that produce something)."Yesterday we saw patent attorney Rolf Claessen‏ promoting this "Webcast on Winning the War Against Patent Trolls" (regarding patent law firms, remember that they profit from the chaos, including trolls). To quote:

The Knowledge Group will offer a live webcast entitled "Patent Trolls Uprising: Tips and Strategies to Win the War Against Them" on October 18, 2017 from 12:00 to 1:30 pm (EST). Neal Rubin, Senior Vice President at RPX Corporation, Herbert H. Finn of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and Mark P. Wine of Orrick will provide attrendees with an overview of the latest trends and critical issues with respect to the rise of patent trolls, and also offer best practices in developing and implementing effective tips and strategies to win the war against patent trolls.

Later on we saw Claessen‏ promoting this news which says "LizardTech has received a U.S. patent for the compression of Lidar point clouds with its compressing software algorithms."

"The only way to derive money using these patents is to troll small companies (with threats of heavy legal fees)."This is another example of software patents. After Alice they have no worth. Why are companies still pursuing these? The only way to derive money using these patents is to troll small companies (with threats of heavy legal fees). Earlier this month Quiptel was foolish enough to boast about such patents and it happened again this week. "Quiptel’s technology and software patents will drive the company’s primary business focus," it says.

But unless Quiptel decides to troll small companies, these patents would bring neither money nor fame.

Getting rid of software patents at the courts? We're there.

But as long as SIPO, the EPO and the USPTO continue to grant software patents, trolls will still be able to blackmail small companies -- SMEs that are unable to justify a lengthy legal battle in a court (or several courts, upon appeals). ⬆