A subject of extensive debate within the U.S. patent system has been the classification of “patent trolls”—most widely defined as individuals or companies that acquire patents solely for the purpose of assertion, often in cases without any merit, but which leverage the high cost of patent litigation defense to force small settlements. Sometimes, these entities are more charitably described as non-practicing entities (“NPEs”)—i.e., entities that do not use or practice the technologies claimed in the patents they own.

However, differences in approach and behavior generally separate the most notorious “patent trolls” from other types of NPEs (such as, for example, universities and research institutions that develop, but do not commercialize, new technologies). Ultimately, trolls are often characterized by the widespread assertion of baseless claims calculated to draw nuisance-value settlements.