Bill would force patent trolls to pay defendants' legal bills
This is a largely pointless gesture.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.The real problem--still--is software patents shouldn't exist at all.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.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.The maths of patent trolling is simple:- filing suits, issuing C&Ds, etc = $X million- potential payoff for settlement or successful litigation = $YYY million- probability of winning = Z%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.