@article{42088,
      author = {McDonough, James F.},
      url = {http://tind.wipo.int/record/42088},
      title = {The Myth of the Patent Troll An Alternative View of the  Function of Patent Dealers in an Idea Economy},
      abstract = {A new breed of companies has emerged, and they are being  called patent trolls. A patent troll is a person or entity  who acquires ownership of a patent without the intention of  actually using it to produce a product. Instead, it  licenses the technology to an entity that will incorporate  the patent into a product, or it sues an entity it believes  has already incorporated the technology in a product  without permission. The government, corporate America, and  the media are fervently acting against these trolls. New  proposed legislation, a blizzard of Supreme Court cases  involving trolls, and endless newspaper and magazine  articles are all trumpeting the same story line: Patent  trolls are bad for society and must be stopped.  This  article suggests that patent trolls are actually good for  the patent system. Patent trolls are more accurately  described as patent dealers because they act as market  intermediaries in the patent market. Once the activities of  patent dealers are isolated from other distinct problems  that have been identified with the patent system,  specifically the issuance of poor quality patents and the  problem of the patent thickets, it becomes clear that the  emergence of patent dealers marks a stage in the natural  evolution of the patent market. Patent dealers make the  patent market more efficient by realigning market  participant incentives, making patents more liquid, and  clearing the patent market. The article concludes by  rebutting the common complaints that patent trolls stunt  innovation and spur unnecessary litigation.},
      recid = {42088},
      pages = {41 pages},
}