The American patent system incentivizes inventors to patent an idea in exchange for obtaining the sole right of commercialization or exclusion of that idea for a defined period of time. As Abraham Lincoln, the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent, once remarked: our patent system “added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.” Abraham Lincoln, Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions, 1858. Beginning around the turn of the century, however, this incentive structure, which has served as an engine for the American economy since the first Patent Act of 1790, has also attracted interest from the so-called “Non-Practicing Entity” (or, as sometimes derisively labeled, the “Patent Troll”). Whether you are a serial entrepreneur or an aspiring small-business owner eager create the next-big-thing, the success of your business may one day depend on your ability to navigate an encounter with a so-called Patent Troll.
