David Bursky

EE Times

(07/21/2006 3:42 PM EDT)

BURLINGAME, Calif — The prospect that patent holders are becoming technology gatekeepers is emerging as a serious issue for the electronics industry.

Experts meeting here this week examined this and other business issues related to intellectual property.

Panelists highlighted increasing industry concern over the latest efforts by firms, loosely referred to as ``patent trolls,`` to extract licensing fees from other companies.

Individual and corporation patent holders have long possessed the ability to assert their right to go after infringers. Increasingly, however, companies are padding their patent portfolios as a way to royalties—and their bottom lines.

Often, the cost for a vendor to research a patent infringement claim can reach half-a-million dollars or more. The cost of discovery can often be more than the license fee sought by the patent holder, said Terry Ludlow, president of Chipworks, a company specializing in analyzing semiconductor designs for IP infringement.

Ludlow said the patent troller problem means patent reforms are needed. But the sheer weight of the more than two-century-old U.S. patent system makes meaningful change difficult, added Ludlow.

Recent high-profile patent cases, such as the recent Blackberry settlement show how patent trolls can potentially be disruptive to the industy, said Alan Grimaldi, and attorney with Howrey LLP