Should Technology Patent Trolling Be Allowed?[Poll]

It almost seems like they make a game of it. There are so many patent infringement cases filed that they all can’t be legitimate. It seems like some of them are filed just for the purpose of trying to force the other company to pay an outrageous fee. It amounts to a huge waste of time in the courtroom. Should this so-called patent trolling be allowed?

There are so many technology lawsuits filed that it almost seems like a business in and of itself. Apple and Samsung seem to have made a game of suing each other back and forth. They don’t even stop once decisions are made, coming back in with appeals. This will ensure that no money will be paid, making it a fruitless pursuit. Apple in turn is being sued by Document Security Systems (DSS) who filed patents relating to wireless Bluetooth connecting to multiple peripherals. Yet such a basic need of computing is useful to every company that makes devices and perhaps it shouldn’t be an idea that is “owned” by any one company. It makes it seem like DSS is patent trolling to file a patent on such a basic principle for the purposes of being able to sue a big company like Apple to make a quick buck.

Aren’t all these lawsuits just a waste of time and money in the courtrooms? Or is this just a necessarily evil in the business? Perhaps these lawsuits are something that just comes with the territory. If you’re going to be in the business of technology and are using ideas as well as coming up with them on your own, maybe filing patents and lawsuits to protect your ideas is just part of the whole system.

Should patent trolling be allowed or should there be some type of limit placed on these lawsuits?

Image credit: gavel

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