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In 2007, a shocking 24% of all patent infringement suits were filed by "patent trolls." That is, entities that don't make anything with the patent -- they just acquire patents in order to sue those companies who may infringe upon it. Sound like a bad system? Well, in a study just released, in 2012 that number jumped to over 50% of all patent lawsuits.
How bad is it? Of the top ten patent infringement filers, nine of them were patent trolls.
I've mentioned this before, but one of the Top 50 valued houses in Dallas is owned by a guy who does nothing but buy patents and sues. (I'm too lazy to find the link.) And I saw one of my old Insurance Defense Firm co-workers a few years back at the Decatur courthouse and he told me he was going into "patent law". I was confused about that then. I'm not now.
