How Patent Trolls Stalled a New Transit App 85
SFGate has the story of Aaron Bannert, creator of a San Francisco transit app called Smart Ride. The app was developed to provide arrival times for the city's bus system. Smart Ride was supported by ads, and Bannert had not yet turned a profit on it when he received a legal threat from a company claiming patent infringement. "It was from a company with ties to Martin Kelly Jones, who holds a series of patents claiming ownership of technologies for tracking vehicles and providing users with electronic updates. A handful of affiliated companies, including ArrivalStar and Melvino Technologies, have threatened or sued hundreds of organizations in recent years, from small entrepreneurs like Bannert to large corporations like American Airlines. ... ArrivalStar filed more than half the patent lawsuits in South Florida federal courts last year, according to the South Florida Business Journal. ... ArrivalStar will demand as much as $200,000 for a license, according to reports in other publications." The cost to the patent troll for filing a lawsuit is around $500, but Bannert was forced to spend over $10,000 on a legal defense and delay the launch of a new version for months. He's unable to provide details on the outcome of the case. "As high as the legal expenses were for Bannert, he thinks the bigger toll from patent trolling is the indirect cost to society, the products and innovation that don't make it off the drawing board."
Re:Profit (Score:2, Funny)
First, don't make the mistake made by our coder in the story. He played the game and it cost him $10K, time and the time he put in on his app, as well as any future profits from it.
When you are contacted by lawyers, the name of their client is evident , making him easy to track down. For far less money, a common hoodlum could go negotiate directly with the patent troll with the stipulation that he is now insured against accidents, fires and sudden death for a small fee, collected periodically.
My God man! Turn the situation around and quit thinking in deficit terms or all you will ever have is deficit! The smart man doesn't allow himself to be under the control of other, less empowered peons.
Publish your app and punish the patent trolls and profit, don't pay. That's ridiculous.