Denver Patent Attorney Discusses Patent Trolls – Part 1 of 3

View the video interview here: Denver Patent Attorney Discusses Patent Trolls

Introduction: This morning we are interviewing Denver-area patent attorney Mark Trenner. Mark has been practicing as a patent attorney in Colorado for almost 14 years; the past 9 years at Trenner Law Firm. While his practice focuses primarily on helping small businesses protect their inventions with patents, Trenner Law Firm assists clients build out all aspects of their intellectual property portfolio, including copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Interviewer: The Washington Post recently published an article titled “How Vermont could save the nation from patent trolls.” What do they mean by “trolls?”

Patent Attorney: Patent trolls have been in the news a lot lately. In fact, if you follow me on Twitter, then you’ve probably seen links to some interesting articles. Wikipedia gives a good definition of patent troll: “A patent troll, also called a patent assertion entity (PAE), is a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” Sometimes, patent trolls are called patent holding companies.

Interviewer: I’ve heard that universities and government research laboratories do essentially the same thing.

Patent Attorney: You mean they develop technology, patent it, and then license the technology to companies.

Interviewer: Right, but universities aren’t in the business of making products. So are they patent trolls?

Patent Attorney: No, universities and government laboratories are not typically labeled as patent trolls. Instead, they are referred to as a non-practicing entity (NPE).

For Part 2 of 3 Follow This Link: Denver Patent Attorney Discusses Patent Trolls – Part 2 of 3