There has been a great deal of discussion over the years regarding patent trolls, also known as non-practicing entities (NPEs) and Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). As most of the IP world knows, these organizations, either alone or in partnership with an inventor, look to leverage a patent or a portfolio in order to seek financial return from companies allegedly utilizing the technology. On the other side are organizations that have in many cases advanced and refined the base technology and created products therefrom who are seeking a way out of potentially high litigation costs by working to determine the need to potentially license the patent/portfolio or to fight patent infringement claims if the PAE has moved beyond assertion to litigation.
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