lodsys

And in fact, when Lodsys’s targets do fight back, Lodsys runs away — settling for nothing in order to avoid a trial.

The difference between Lodsys and Rockstar is that Lodsys is a bully, suing small (and in some cases, downright tiny) companies that lack the financial wherewithal to fight back.

(Lodsys has been linked to IV, but until some time ago, Lodsys had a page on their site explicitly disavowing any relation to IV.

If anything Apple's stood in the way of patent trolls and threatened to inject themselves in any lawsuit filed for the Lodsys patent, making it much harder for Lodsys to win or back out.

Isn't Lodsys a child of Intellectual Ventures, which Microsoft and Apple are/were investors in?

Unfortunately, the data available is limited in a big way: there is no data at all on demand letters that trolls like Lodsys send.

Many trolls exploit the extreme cost asymmetries of mounting a legal defense, but by targeting such small players, Lodsys is taking it to new lows.

Out of curiosity, what is your take on the Lodsys situation?

Also, LodSys and Microsoft have far less customers on the street.

I struggle to imagine Lodsys and friends suing someone who downloaded an app from Google Play or paid for a web app.

Companies (that aren't Lodsys like trolls) aren't likely to bring action where there isn't significant revenue to obtain unless there is a strategic threat to them.

Now legal costs and/or Lodsys like trolls might be a real threat to a fledgling business but they seem to have gone quite quiet for the moment.

Anyway "The last Lodsys patent technically expired in 2012 - the LLC had been suing based on past infringement"

There's no benefit derived from what IV or Lodsys "invented" and that's why it seems unfair.

I don't know what you think Lodsys is that's not a "patent holder", but that's exactly what they are, and they're a great example of patent trolls going after small businesses.

In contrast, you can't make any similar statement about what IV, Lodsys, or other trolls do.

I imagine giving patents from your portfolio to patent trolling companies (Lodsys), who then sue your client's (Apple) partners, doesn't help.

I agree expense of the US legal system that makes settling vexatious (Lodsys etc.) suits financially attractive is a real problem.