http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/newegg-nukes-corporate-troll-alcatel-in-third-patent-appeal-win-this-year/

Older article:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/how-newegg-crushed-the-shopping-cart-patent-and-saved-online-retail/

Goes to show that all it takes to defeat patent trolls is a willingness to fight. Newegg is a relatively small company compared to some of the others that chose to settle. Large companies really need to stop settling with these people and start fighting back even if it might cost more than the settlement. If they don't then patent trolling is going to continue to thrive.

Someone has egg on their face.

Death to the Trolls!

Conversely all it takes for any large company to win most legal cases is a will to fight. Regardless of how legitimate the patent is.

Tell that to Samsung...

Are you referring to when Apple sued them? I'm pretty sure Apple is bigger than Samsung, making that a proof of the the rule rather than an exception.

Apple happened.

So, you're saying that the bigger entity will always win? That's also not true. Just as one example, Microsoft has lost countless cases to small software firms. Not to mention that Samsung is actually just as big as Apple for all intents and purposes. Not necessarily in net worth, but certainly in assets. Apple is a bit bigger, but not by that much.

Cases it didn't put effort in too win. Hence a will to fight ensures a win.

An entity like Microsoft probably loses less money paying out software firms than it would paying laywers, and probably understand how PR works.

In any case, in most/some/a patent/copyright cases the bigger entity will win.

In terms of a legal case, money is all that matters. (Samsung might have as much money, I don't know).

One of my favorite shows is Connections by James Burke. In it he details all the discoveries and technological advances that result in what we use today. If the patent trolls had been around a few hundred years ago, we would not have things like interchangeable parts, production lines, electricity, telecommunications or just about anything else we take for granted. Heck, Apple, one of the companies that loves to do this got their start because they stole all the concepts for the Macintosh from Xerox.

Isn't that just copyright theft, not patent trolling?

As I said in an edit, Apple isn't bigger than Samsung to a degree that would make them significantly more powerful in that respect. Samsung is a very large and powerful company.

I agree with you in sentiment, but as a blanket statement that's not factually true. Yes, money usually results in a bigger and better legal team that can run a better lawsuit (and possibly sway things in other ways), but that doesn't translate to an automatic win.

Do you think they weren't trying to win this one?:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/10/us-microsoft-i4i-idUSTRE7583IS20110610

At any rate, that's getting off-topic. My point was that if companies continue to settle with trolls there will continue to be trolling.

Blanket statements are by their very nature not factually true.

I worked for Lucent up until 2000. They don't know what they're doing. It got so bad they moved to France. Their stock was fantastic, splitting twice, then it plummeted fast. Management made terrible decisions in anticipation of future tech and demands, and they never recovered.

Screw them I lost tens of thousands of dollars because of their idiocy, and some people lost much much more.

The way I see it, the guys are Newegg are heroes for pulling this off.

More the concept of, "Hey, I thought of this first, but I don't use it. But, no one else can"

With the patent lawsuits we have now, all someone has to do is think of it first, write it down, and then no one else can be inspired by the concept in any way, unless they want to pay a bunch of lawyers. Human advancement has been built on the backs of ideas of others, and this flies right in the face of that concept. All in the name of protecting the profits of a created entity.

How factually untrue does a statement have to be before it's just regular untrue?

In a way i admire those patent trolls. They have found a way to make huge amounts of money without doing anything themselves. It's the capitalistic dream

Doea it mean the other companies can't recover their monies

And how far after that until it's...

Patently untrue?

canned laughter

Depends on how much of a nitpick you want to be about it

Patents need to have an expiration date if they aren't being taken advantage of.

You started it!

Agreed. In a way they're necessary, but even with an expiration they're abused pretty liberally.

Absolutely. The same reason I admire leeches.

That'd be a nice addition, but it's not one of the main problems, but rather the result of the current system

1. The USPTO is paid for granted patents, not for ungranted patents. This mean they have an interest in granting patents, not rejecting them

2. The people granting patents generally have no knowledge in the field they are granting patents, yet they are required to pass judgement on the novelty and innovative nature of the patent. This is impossible.

3. Filed patents cannot be easily searched, even by the USPTO itself, making prior filing a hard thing to know of until you are sued.

4. The only way for a patent to be invalidated is in the court of law or via the USPTO re-checking the patent of their own decision (cannot be requested), as such it is often cheaper for individuals and companies to simply fold or license rather than fight the patent.

the only slightly disappointing part is that everyone else is getting refunded their money involved in the nullified patents even though they didn't fight against it

Good punishment for the trolls, but yeah, maybe not enough sting to teach the defendants that rolled-over a lesson in growing a pair.

Again, this is the right attitude:

Admittedly that last part is a bit of a plug, but at the same time he's not lying. For a retailer of complex products that's been around for as long as they have their customer service track-record is pretty impressive. They decided to try to build a business on good customer relationships, and it worked.

Well, now I've got a new found respect for Newegg. Happy slaying.