Bill would force patent trolls to pay defendants' legal bills
This is a largely pointless gesture.<p>Patent trolls by definition have no assets (technically they're NPE or non-practicing entities). This means that if they lose big, they'll simply declare bankruptcy and move on.<p>The real problem--<i>still</i>--is software patents shouldn't exist <i>at all</i>.<p>If a single device (eg a smartphone) potentially infringes on thousands of patents then you've gone well beyond the intent or usefulness of the patent system.<p>If this were going to do anything at all, any entity that files a patent violation suit should be required to establish a bond (set by the court) to cover defendants' reasonable fees before the suit can even go to discovery.<p>The maths of patent trolling is simple:<p>- filing suits, issuing C&Ds, etc = $X million<p>- potential payoff for settlement or successful litigation = $YYY million<p>- probability of winning = Z%<p>If Y x Z > X then it's worthwhile suing. Filing a bond with the court then change sthis to Y x Z > X + B.