"Defensive Patent License" created to protect innovators from trolls; probably won't w

06-19-2014 • http://c4sif.org, by Stephan Kinsella

This is an admirable attempt to deal with the inevitable problems flowing from the invention-monopolies from the patent system favored by IP "libertarians" (interesting how many libertarian sci-fi novelists happen to favor copyright, such as Brad Linaweaver, J. Neil Schulman, L. Neil Smith, and I guess throw in Ayn Rand and John C. Wright; just like most of my fellow patent lawyers favor the patent system, and most public school teachers favor government schooling ….).

As heroic as this effort is, I see problems with it. At best, it's a way to deter lawsuits, but at a huge cost (obtaining patents in the first place to contribute to the pool). What a waste. And it does nothing to deter patent trolls. And why not let some companies who have no patents buy into the pool for money? If 1 patent gets you in as much as 100 patents does, why can't you pay some fee to get in? And once you start using the pool, what is your incentive to continue to acquire patents?