Thin Line Between Patent Litigation and R&D

Blame for the increase in patent litigation  has been placed on patent trolls and others who invest in patent enforcement for profit, or sometimes on just the so-called “litigation mind set.” But the real explanation, according to Ron Epstein and Bryan Lord of Epicenter IP Group in Silicon Valley, is a phenomenon that is less dramatic, and so pervasive among high tech companies that they may not even recognize it: Unlike the iconic high tech giants of the last century, today’s tech companies do scant product-generating R&D relative to the amount of innovation that they appropriate, consciously or not, because it’s “out there” apparently for the taking.