Why the roots of patent trolling may be in the patent office

US Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. (credit: Roy Finneren / Flickr)

In recent years, American companies have faced a growing threat from patent assertion entities derisively called "patent trolls." These often shadowy firms make money by threatening patent lawsuits rather than creating useful products. A recent study suggests that the roots of the patent trolling problem may lie with the US Patent and Trademark office-specifically with patent examiners who fail to thoroughly vet patent applications before approving them.

So-called patent trolls "disproportionately purchase and assert patents that were granted by 'lenient' examiners," write Harvard economist Josh Feng and his co-author Xavier Jaravel of the London School of Economics in a December paper.

Patent examiners don't just decide whether or not to approve a patent. They're also supposed to narrow a patent's claims to make sure it only covers what the inventor actually invented. But some examiners do a better job of this than others. Feng and Jaravel found that examiners who demand the fewest changes to patent claims account for a disproportionate share of patents that ultimately wind up in patent lawsuits.

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