“专利流氓”横行 业界损失惨重

    波士顿大学法学院（Boston University's School of Law）的詹姆斯•贝森与迈克尔•莫伊雷尔近期的一项研究发现，去年一年，专利流氓诉讼给被告方造成的“直接损失”就高达290亿美元。而这才只是律师费和专利许可费两部分费用的合计。

    研究报告称：“这一数字还不包括对被告公司造成的间接成本，如转移资源、新产品发布推迟，以及市场份额流失等。”研究人员称，即便如此，仅直接损失一项就“给创新投资增加了沉重的负担”。

    所谓“专利流氓”是指那些拥有创新技术知识产权，自身却并不进行创新的所谓“非执业实体”（NPE）。他们购买专利的目的就是为了起诉专利侵权者。

    研究显示，去年专利诉讼案件多达5,842起，涉及公司多达1,150家，其中多半公司在当年的收入都不足1亿美元，由此可见，专利流氓的目标并不是只有大公司。

    众多专利流氓公司中最著名的是高智发明公司（Intellectual Ventures）。本月早些时候，在All Things D大会上，科技记者沃尔特•莫斯伯格对这家公司的创始人内森•梅尔沃德进行了45分钟的采访。梅尔沃德在为自己公司的所作所为辩解时坦承，自己“上学的时候就是个不招人喜欢的孩子。”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Patent trolls last year cost defendants $29 billion in "direct costs", according to astudy by James Bessen and Michael Meurer of Boston University's School of Law. But that's only the beginning -- accounting just for legal fees and licensing.

    "This figure does not include indirect costs to the defendants' businesses, such as diversion of resources, delays in new products, and loss of market share," the study asserts. Even so, the direct costs alone "effectively impose a significant tax on investment in innovation" the authors say.

    Patent trolls are entities that own the intellectual rights to innovations without innovating anything themselves -- so-called "non-practicing entities." They buy patents in order to sue infringers.

    The study determined that 1,150 companies defended themselves against 5,842 lawsuits last year. About half of those companies earned less than $100 million during the year, showing that "NPEs are not just a problem for large firms," according to the authors.

    One of the best-known trolls is Intellectual Ventures. That company's founder, Nathan Myhrvold, was interviewed earlier this month by tech journalist Walt Mossberg at the All Things D conference. In defending his company's practice during the 45-minute discussion, he noted that he "was never the popular kid in class."