<i>&gt; But in practice the &quot;little guy&quot; would need millions of dollars just to create the case and go after the &quot;big guy&quot;.</i><p>This is the exact problem that many patent trolls solve. If your patent is strong enough, they will take your case on &quot;contingency&quot; and take a (huge) cut of the winnings, if any. Patent trolls can help even the imbalance between the big guys and the little guys.<p>Not surprising then that the loudest complaints about patent trolls come from the &quot;big guys&quot;. Unfortunately for them, multiple studies, including by the GAO and professors like Michael Risch and Coleen Chien show that there is no real patent troll litigation crisis. Fortunately for them, tech media is happy to regurgitate their PR for the rage-view value, and most people are happy to accept it uncritically.