What Does Recent Tencent Litigation Against a Patent Troll Signify?

Peng Sheng

Introduction

A “patent troll” is a term used to identify a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent’s actual value of the prior art. Generally, patent trolls do not manufacture the patented product or process. Rather, they seek to profit through litigation against rich companies with similar patents, and then wait for a favorable settlement from the side of the opponent. It is a legal phenomenon that occurs throughout the world.[1]

In China, intellectual property (“IP”) owners have been facing lawsuits from patent trolls for many years.[2] In the past, giant companies in China tended to settle with patent trolls rather than pursuing a win-or-lose outcome.[3]Read the rest