Over at Techdirt, there is a good story up on how a patent troll attacked a startup and the litigation costs so distressed the startup that it was forced to sell out to another patent troll.
Peter Braxton created Jump Rope Inc., and developed an app that allows users to pay a fee to skip a line. For example, rather than wait hours in line for a seat at a trendy restaurant, the app allows you to get in quicker.
Enter the patent troll Smart Options, which has a patent on a “method and system for reserving future purchases of goods or services.” In other words, a patent on electronic options buying. This is a great example of the junk patents that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) puts a rubber stamp on and approves.
Braxton wins the fight in court, but in the face of the costs for an appeal and renewed threats by Smart Options to sue again on another patent, he sells out to another patent troll that was able to capitalize on Braxton’s distress.
This is but the latest example of why patent reform is needed. Those claiming that trolls are on the decline are simply wrong. Innovation faces daily threats from the trolls, and Congress needs to step in and pass serious reform legislation.
