
There has been some fuss in the press about this initiative, launched by Google and targeted at startups.
Basically, it seems to amount to Google giving some of its patents to startups “at no cost”, but subject to a few terms and conditions – and particularly on the condition that these startups participating in the LOT program (a royalty-free patent cross licensing agreement for which participation those small businesses will have to pay fees once two years have elapsed). For those who don’t know, LOT (“licence on transfer”) is a program whereby the participants (including Google, Canon, Ford and various others) agree that they will grant a licence to each other’s patents if, and when, those patents are transferred to non-participants. The idea behind the LOT program seems to be protection of LOT participants from assertion of patents that have been transferred by other LOT participants to third parties, for example where those third parties are what is commonly known as trolls.A troll by any other name would smell as sweet
A note on nomenclature; in this article, I intend to use the word “troll” to describe any entity which acquires a patent that it had no hand in originating and which later seeks to licence (or assert) that patent to (or against) a practicing business, without itself marketing the invention claimed therein. Note, though, that subject to the above I regard it as irrelevant for this purpose whether the entity acquiring the patent has (or does not have) any business of its own beyond patent licensing/assertion. In that sense, I use “troll” to encompass what might be called “patent privateer”, “patent licensing entity”, patent assertion entity”, “non-practicing entity”, etc.A patentee is a patentee is a patentee is a patentee
- Google’s latest algorithm change could have a big impact on your website
- A practical guide to keeping your web content Google friendly
- Quality content and backlinks will boost your Google ranking
By heaven, I think my patent’s as sharp as yours!
Second, some of the “fine print” that Google refers to regarding the program states: “Patents obtained…can only be used defensively…you can’t take these patents and just start suing someoneu037e rather, if you are first sued by someone or your products are accused of infringement in a third party litigation, then you’d be free to assert your Google acquired patents counter offensively.” This seems fine, in principle. Incidentally, it seems also to prevent the startups to whom Google transfers the patents from using those patents in a troll-like manner themselves. However, it is unlikely to be of much practical use against typical trolls, who have no business to speak of (other than licensing/asserting patents), and therefore cannot infringe any patents themselves. Matthew Jones is an IP solicitor and partner a Matthew Jones is an IP solicitor and partner at EIP, London.Share this story