WaPo: How Vermont could save the nation from patent trolls

Patent law is traditionally the domain of the federal government. But recently, patent litigation has become such a nuisance that state officials have started looking for ways to address the problem.

Jon Bruning, the attorney general of Nebraska, is one of them. Last month, he sent a letter to the law firm of Farney Daniels, LLP, warning the firm to leave Nebraska businesses alone.

Farney Daniels represents companies like the one that claims to own the concept of scanning documents to e-mail. In his letter, Bruning warned Farney Daniels that it would face serious consequences under Nebraska law if it engaged in “baseless harassment” of Nebraska businesses or pursued “costly and destructive litigation.”


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While Sorrell was the direct inspiration for Bruning’s move, both men’s interest in the issue is driven by grass-roots outrage over the growth of patent litigation. Such litigation used to be mostly confined to large companies in patent-dependent industries such as pharmaceuticals. But times have changed. Today, companies of all sizes in a wide variety of industries are facing patent threats. Critics have dubbed the new breed of patent litigators, whose only business model is to threaten firms who accidentally infringe their patents, as “patent trolls.”

Vermont has emerged as a hotbed of anti-troll activism. Not only did Sorrell sue a patent troll, but the Vermont legislature passed an anti-patent troll bill this year. Both developments were prompted by lobbying by an ad-hoc coalition of Vermont businesses, represented by Vermont attorney Peter Kunin, who were looking to put a damper on frivolous patent lawsuits.

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the rest of this long article is here. Interesting stuff about these patent troll assholes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/01/how-vermont-could-save-the-nation-from-patent-trolls/