back to article FTC boss promises probe into patent troll regulation

The Federal Trade Commission will investigate the activities of patent assertion entities (more commonly known as patent trolls), chairwoman Edith Ramirez promised in a speech on Thursday. "Flaws in the patent system," Ramirez said, mean that patent trolls now account for over 60 per cent of patent legal cases, and the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wonder no more ..

    "El Reg wonders why the FTC is bothering to perform the study in the first place,..."

    Because that's how you bury an inconvenient issue that you don't want to deal with. You study it to death. I've got a tenner that says the next time someone asks Congress what they're doing about Patents, they'll whip out the line 'The FTC is investigating .....'

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

      Re: Wonder no more ..

      Really? I would have thought that this was something America would want to reform, as they are keen on big business.

      Microsoft/Apple/IBM etc. have all been victims of these trolls, which are generally fly by night failed-abulance-chasing lawyers.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: Wonder no more ..

        Microsoft, et al, are the biggest patent trolls of them all.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Wonder no more ..

        @JJ- America in general probably does want some action on this. Congress on the other hand does not. Remember that trolling generally hurts smaller businesses more than big ones. The big ones can take care of themselves.

  2. ecofeco Silver badge
    Alert

    It's all FUBAR

    The American patent system, once the standard of the world, has become as useless and corrupted as everything else in America.

    Change THAT first and the trolling will solve itself.

  3. Someone Else Silver badge
    Coat

    I wonder...

    ..if the SHIELD Act will apply to Apple...

  4. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
    Alert

    BEST PATENT APPLICATION EVER!

    United States Patent Application 20080270152, by a Halliburton Patent Attorney, seeks a Patent for "Patent Acquisition and Assertion by a (Non-Inventor) First Party Against a Second Party"

    In other words, it's a patent application to patent the business model of patent trolling.

    http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2008/0270152.html

    Sorry for the all caps in the title. (Not really.)

  5. Eponymous Cowherd
    Holmes

    See icon.

    "situation needs an investigation to see if competitiveness and innovation are being harmed"

  6. Nameless Faceless Computer User
    FAIL

    I'm sure the FTC will address patent trolling the same way they currently handle their Do Not Solicit telemarketing regulations i.e. not very well.

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