Acacia-Dead Long live the Joint Defense Group!

[RawAlex]

All I can think of is the major (and not so major) companies that were stupid enough to pay instead of fighting an obviously stupid patent claim.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

All I can think of is the major (and not so major) companies that were stupid enough to pay instead of fighting an obviously stupid patent claim.

Epiccash - Pimpdogg
Matrix Content
Cybererotica


And HGV wasnt the only one in on that fight either. But I know Spike spent hours on that thing and the company did suffer for trying to do the right thing.

[fusionx]

Here's a good article from the past:

The announcement came on behalf of a group of Acacia litigants who decided independently to challenge Acacia's streaming media patent claims. The group includes VS Media, Homegrown Video, TopBucks, GameLink, LightSpeed Entertainment, AEBN, Sunup Media, Webmaster Paradise, Adult Revenue Service, and others.

http://business.avn.com/articles/14006.html

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

All I can think of is the major (and not so major) companies that were stupid enough to pay instead of fighting an obviously stupid patent claim.

And, by paying, they helped to hurt the others in our industry,

[Hell Puppy]

Our patent system is broken, only ones who win are the lawyers.

If you own a legit patent, you gotta enforce it with the courts. At the same time if you are one of these companies that buy up BS patents, you can target anyone using your patent and offer them the choice of licensing or being sued.

These things can be in court for years and tend to be very expensive to fight as you need specialized attorneys and experts.

It comes down to a business decision if you're targeted:

1) fight it in court
2) negotiate a licensing fee you can afford
3) stop using the invention in question

The less legit the patent is, the more affordable #2 will be and thus it will often be the best business decision. Used properly it's basically legal extortion.