Patent Trolls

Fred Wilson beat me to it this morning with his post A Big Win For The Patent Reform Movement but he’s got a couple of hour time zone advantage over me. Regardless, I love Fred’s punch line: So it was with incredible joy that I read these words by Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and possibly the most innovative entrepreneur in the world right now. [Elon wrote in his post All Our Patent Are Belong To You ] “Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.” ...

Join the Application Developers Alliance at a Boulder Developer Patent Summit August 28 at 6 PM at FUSE Coworking . The event is a chance to share stories of demand letters and lawsuits from trolls, discuss legal strategies and litigation costs, and share ideas for software patent reform. DATE: August 28th | FREE | 6pm LOCATION: The Riverside (FUSE Coworking) | 1724 Broadway | Boulder, CO 80302 AGENDA: 6:00pm Welcome (registration, drinks, food, and mingling) 6:30-8:00pm Brief Presentation, Panel Discussion, and Q&A 8:00pm Enjoy food and drinks, meet the panel, and network ...

I regularly get emails and have discussions with entrepreneurs who are on the receiving end of a software patent lawsuit. Many of these are young companies, often with little or no revenue. It’s total, completely madness. If you don’t believe me, read the latest rant from a young entrepreneur on the receiving end of a software patent lawsuit from a troll. My startup, all five employees and $0 revenue, is being sued by a patent troll. It is madness. ...