NPE Implications

As discussed previously, patent trolls essentially extort money out of companies by claiming infringement upon vague patents owned by the troll. As patent litigation is incredibly expensive, sometimes millions of dollars and take months to years, most parties that are threatened will simply choose to pay the licensing fee rather than go to court. This decision is made because many small upcoming business are targeted, who cannot afford to go to court, but also do not have the resources, manpower, or time to combat this threat. Depending on the patent that is supposedly infringed upon, the licensing fee can be anywhere from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars but on average is a few thousand. Either ways, this is still much less to pay than millions in court, which would also bring negative publicity towards the company.