“The list of those waging battle with so-called patent trolls already includes big technology companies, Congress and the White House,” Ashby Jones reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Now, New York’s attorney general is joining that group.”
“Eric T. Schneiderman, New York state’s top prosecutor, has reached a civil settlement with Delaware patent firm MPHJ Technology Investments LLC, barring it from using what he called deceptive tactics to get New York businesses to pay for patent licenses, according to the agreement,” Jones reports. “The settlement applies only to MPHJ and New York state. But the attorney general intends to apply the agreement’s terms to other firms that buy up patents and seek to make money from them through licensing and litigation.”
“Over the past year, the White House, the Federal Trade Commission and several other state attorneys general have taken measures to crack down on abusive behavior by some patent holders,” Jones reports. “Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would require parties in patent cases to disclose more information and would give judges more discretion to order a plaintiff to pay the other side’s legal fees when a lawsuit fails. The bill has since moved to the Senate.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Attribution: Patently Apple. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
U.S. House panel passes bill targeting ‘patent trolls’ – November 21, 2013
Apple Inc. a top target for patent trolls – August 29, 2013
Patent trolls have the smartphone industry in a state of emergency – August 10, 2012
New U.S. House ‘anti-troll’ bill would force patent trolls to pay defendants’ legal bills – August 2, 2012