First Government Lawsuit Against a Patent Troll 96
walterbyrd writes "Late last year, a vigorous and secretive patent troll began sending out thousands of letters to small businesses all around the country, insisting that they owed between $900 and $1,200 per worker just for using scanners. The brazen patent-trolling scheme, carried out by a company called MPHJ technologies and dozens of shell companies with six-letter names, has caught the attention of politicians. MPHJ and its principals may have gone too far. They're now the subject of a government lawsuit targeting patent trolling—the first ever such case. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell has filed suit in his home state, saying that MPHJ is violating Vermont consumer-protection laws."
Re:Probably legal, definitely wrong (Score:3, Informative)
Even more so, don't let them directly sue consumers.
If I can walk into Wal Mart and buy a product, and you think that product infringes on your patent, you can sue the company who made it, but the consumer can't be sued.
This is a case of people being sued for using scanners -- technology we've had ready consumer access to for quite a long time.
Consumers should be indemnified from such things -- they didn't infringe on your patent, they probably have no idea what you're talking about. By the time you can walk into a retail store and buy a product it should be too damned late to sue consumers.
This is just shaking down people who are using stuff that has been readily available since the 90s, and which you can buy damned near anywhere -- what's a scanner cost these days? An all in one printer is what, $50?
If they haven't been filing patent lawsuits by now, they've essentially given up any rights to be suing anybody, let alone end users of technology which an be picked up pretty much anywhere.
Re:Unintended consequences. (Score:4, Informative)
Generally the goverment doesn't decide who is and who isn't a troll. The Attorney General can only sue based on current law, and the judge getting the case can only decide based on current law. "Patent Troll" is not a legal term, and MPHJ doesn't get sued for being a patent troll, but for fraudulently representing what they are selling (licenses to patents they claim to have exclusive rights on, which they don't have, for instance).
According to the article, they are in trouble because they threatened to sue people for patent infringement, when they had (1) not checked whatsoever if patent infringement had been committed, and when (2) they had no intent whatsoever to take anyone to court but only were interested in settlement payments.
They would have been fine if they actually had checked that there was at least a likelihood for patent infringement, and if they then had taken people to court.
Re:They took it seriously? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Nah, just keep on sleeping while the wheels tur (Score:5, Informative)
"There's just no federal laws they can really go after these fuckers for violating."
RICO
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-rico-law.htm#did-you-know [wisegeek.com]