The Menace of Patent Trolls:What the World Can Learn from India

First coined in the 1990s, the term ‘patent troll’ has no legal definition and is commonly used in the business world to describe a non-performing entity that obtains the rights to a patent purely to profit from litigation without seeking to produce or further develop the said invention or method. This paper aims to discuss the techniques and modus operandi of such businesses to extract profit out of legitimate creators of products and services using cutting-edge science and technology. Patent trolls have attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies worldwide. As compared to India, they have been more successful in sustaining their business models in the west where the existing legal framework is still conducive to their sustenance. The policing of patent trolls is remarkably tricky as they gain power from the strength of the very patent protection regimes they reside in. The objective of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of the patent systems and legal frameworks in the United States, European Union and India, and to illustrate and discuss how non-Indian jurisdictions can take a leaf out of India’s safeguard mechanisms to prevent the sprouting menace of such businesses and protect the interests of both large companies and emerging start-ups. The methodology of comparison revolves around analysing the basic tenets of the existing patent systems, as well as the key historical cases of precedence in various jurisdictions. The study and analysis also take into consideration the interests of the various stakeholders such as individual inventors, startups, corporate businesses, governments, and the citizens involved. This paper is especially of relevance today because this continuing practice discourages innovators from investing time, effort and capital into the research and development of new technologies, without which the progress of society is hindered.