Google, along with BlackBerry, EarthLink and Red Hat today appealed to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to take stronger action against companies like Lodsys, Intellectual Ventures, and other “patent assertion entities” (aka patent trolls or patent privateers) — companies they believe abuse patents for financial gain and are an increasing detriment to the technology industry, costing U.S. companies alone nearly $30 billion in 2011, “and $80 billion when accounting for all costs – direct and indirect.”
The four companies’ position was laid out in a lengthy comments document submitted to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. The 22-page report lays out how PAEs’ activities have evolved over the last several years; they claim that their licensing regimes and court cases cost the U.S. economy some $30 billion annually.
