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."
Unintended consequences. (Score:0, Insightful)
This is not neccesairly that good. I would rather see law change that prevents trolls. This development can easily evolve to a tool where large rich corporations will buy politicians to shut down legitimate small inventors. Generally I don't like governemtn to decide who is and who isn't a troll.
Re:Unintended consequences. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:They took it seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I got a letter with that kind of language from an entity that has a name that looks like it was spewed out by a random letter generator, I'd chuck it into the trash thinking it was a scam. Because there are TONS of scams where "companies" bill for office supplies and other services that were never received with the hopes that the recipient would just pay it.
And the fact that these scams keep happening demonstrates that there is money in it because some people fall for it. Same with spam. So the only way to stop these scammers is to actually litigate rather than just ignoring it, throwing it away and claiming it isn't a problem.
Re:They took it seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
And the fact that these scams keep happening demonstrates that there is money in it because some people fall for it
And a really low barrier of entry into the market. All it takes is a carefully worded email and a public search on people to send it to, and you're good. You don't need to worry about court fees or anything, since you plan on dropping the case before any papers are filed.
Re:They took it seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet, litigating is expensive, and ignoring/throwing it away is cheap
Which is why individuals can't be expected to do it - this is the government's job in the interest of protecting the law abiding public.
Re:Reverse Psychology (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure this was just bullshit lawyering, not some principled stand of protest against the patent system.
This reads much more like shady asshole lawyers than any caped crusaders. Because good guys don't send threatening legal notices to innocent bystanders and demand settlement money.