Affirmation And Regulation Of "patent Troll"

NPE and Patent Troll has become a popular vocabulary in the field of patent in recent years, often appear in people’s field of vision accompanied by sky-high patent infringement claims. It means that there is such a kind of patent operating companies. After getting legal patents by way of buying, they themselves are not committed to putting patent into production, but instead, they mainly charge higher patent licensing fees from target enterprise through the threat of filing patent lawsuits against them or claim for sky-high patent infringement compensation for benefit in patent lawsuits. Required patent licensing fees or patent infringement damages often have been significantly beyond the value created by the patent itself. This kind of behavior is also called "Patent Troll". Although “Patent Troll” also involves the patent purchase, patent licensing and other normal operation behaviors, objectively promoting the technology transfer, reducing the phenomenon of patent dormancy, a great help to realize the interests of small businesses and individual inventors, the harms of speculative purposes of pursuing high profits are much greater than the benefits to the society. According to the statistics, it takes billions of dollars each year in the United States as the cost of processing the patent lawsuits issued by NPE. Intensified patent troll has not only brought huge economic losses to the enterprise, but also has let enterprise full of worries in the investment of scientific research and the promotion of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, which has hindered the further development of science and technology, contrary to the original intention of setting up the patent system. Enterprises in our country have been deeply troubled by Patent Troll in the US market at present, while indigenous patent troll may also happen in domestic patent market in the rapid development of the future. Hence, it is necessary for us to make in-depth analysis of “Patent Troll” and figure out the corresponding regulation measures.This paper firstly analyzes the generated background of "Patent Troll" originated in the United States, and thinks that it is the combinative outcome of benefit-seeking capital and imperfect system. It has deviated from the value purpose of setting up the patent system, and has caused damage to social interests, thus it needs to be regulated. Secondly, the characteristics of patent troll have been summed up, helpful for more accurate affirmation of behaviors of patent troll from aspects of subject, way of act, etc. Finally, by drawing lessons from a series of measures for “Patent Troll” adopted by the United States and other developed countries, and according to our country’s present national conditions and developmental trends, this paper proposes to take appropriate measures to regulate the “Patent Troll”. Specific measures taken are: to improve the quality of patents, to perfect relief system of patent infringement, and to balance distribution of interests between the patentee and the public; to guide the normal behavior of patent operation, to provide enterprises with professional services including patent early warning and patent insurance so as to reduce the patent risks and losses of enterprises to a minimum in the future, and to establish and improve punishment mechanism of malicious patent litigation.