Niro and Spangenberg Leaving the Patent Troll Field?

Joe Mullin at Ars Technica writes that two figures prominently associated with the patent troll phenemonen—Ray Niro and Erich Spangenberg—are eyeing the exits of the litigation field they helped create. Facing a potential fee award of several million dollars to HTC in one case, Niro recently declared the stand–alone patent case “dead on arrival,” citing...

Uneasy Times For Patent Trolls?

There is some evidence to suggest that we have reason to give thanks this season for the downward slide of the phenomenon of the non–practicing entity (NPE) a/k/a patent assertion entity (PAE) a/k/a patent troll. By any name, businesses that acquire patents for the purpose licensing and litigation are in the news, and not for...

Acacia Subsidiary Hit For $1.4 Million in Attorneys’ Fees

A Delaware federal court has awarded just under $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees to NetApp, Inc., in a patent lawsuit filed by Summit Data Systems. (Hat Tip: the invaluable Docket Navigator) In a recently unsealed order, the court found Summit’s pursuit of its claim against NetApp to be “exceptional” under the rule announced by the...