Amaya Toman Apple has called on the European Union to take strong action against patent trolls. It did so along with other technology companies and car manufacturers. According to these companies, the number of entities that try to abuse the entire patent system for their own enrichment and thus prevent manufacturers from innovating is increasing.
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Dan Pražák A coalition of a total of thirty-five companies and four industrial groups, including, in addition to Apple, also Microsoft and BMW, addressed a letter to Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner, with a request to create new rules that would make it more difficult for patent trolls to abuse the existing system. Specifically, the group demands, for example, a reduction in the severity of some court decisions - in many countries, due to patent trolls, certain products were banned across the board, even though only one patent was infringed.
Businesses often register patents to prevent other businesses from profiting from new ideas and concepts they have created. Patent trolls are rarely product manufacturers – their revenue model is based on obtaining patents and then suing other companies that may infringe them. In this way, these trolls come to an almost certain income. The threat of banning their products in the European Union due to the infringement of a single patent is practically constantly hanging over the companies, and it is often easier for them to capitulate or come to an agreement with the opposing party in its favor.
For example, Apple has been in a long-term dispute with Straight Path IP Group regarding four patents related to video conferencing and point-to-point communication between devices. Apple, along with Intel, has also filed a lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, saying its repeated patent litigation violates US antitrust laws.
In Europe, Apple had to face a ban on the sale of some of its iPhones in Germany at the end of 2018, due to the infringement of Qualcomm's patent. At the time, a German court ruled that this was indeed a patent infringement, and some older iPhone models were discontinued in selected German stores.
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Cases of patent trolls trying to disrupt the business of other companies are said to be much more common in Europe than in other areas, and the number of such cases is increasing every year. According to one report from Darts-IP, the average number of lawsuits from patent trolls increased by 2007% per year between 2017 and 20.
Source: Apple Insider
