Apple and Intel Sue SoftBank-Funded Patent Troll, Claiming Antitrust Violations For Patent Trolling

Apple and Intel Sue SoftBank-Funded Patent Troll, Claiming Antitrust Violations For Patent Trolling

4 years ago
Anonymous $6AJGTL-6_8

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191121/13312643430/apple-intel-sue-softbank-funded-patent-troll-claiming-antitrust-violations-patent-trolling.shtml

For years, I've argued that since patents and copyrights are government granted monopolies, it seems pretty straightforward to me that abusing those laws to stifle speech, innovation, or competition should be viewed as an antitrust violation. It's taken a while, but earlier this decade, the Supreme Court actually agreed with regards to patents (it's not there yet on copyright...).

So for all the talk about using antitrust laws against the tech giants, perhaps there's a much better use of antitrust law in taking down abusive patent trolling operations. At least that's the theory in a new lawsuit filed by Intel and Apple against patent troll Fortress Investment Group LLC. As the lawsuit notes, Fortress was a struggling company that was acquired by SoftBank in 2017 for $3.3 billion dollars, and then turned into a massive patent troll.