I will bet any amount of money that Cisco will win this case unless they decided to settle out of court to just get the suing individuals out of their face (which would be a bad call as it would encourage more lawsuits of the same).

It seems unfair that you are using this situation to somehow lump together a number of different industries together as being “parasites” who are engaged in “smear campaigns.” Patent trolls are not simply a figment of some corporate executive’s imagination, but a disappointing reality. There really are companies that exist solely to make a profit by buying up bogus patents for the express purpose of bringing frivolous lawsuits. They are the ones who are truly hurting innovation - not the industries you seem so quick to label as being “evil.”

The same kind of wrong-minded thinking applies in Gibson’s lawsuit over Activision (and now expanded to include Walmart, Target, Amazon, GameStop, K-Mart, and Toys R Us) that would cause any reasonably intelligent person cock their head and say, “Huh?”

What’s really sad, though, is the distraction from real IP cases. Sure, big companies need to be prevented from rolling over small inventors of real innovation. That’s not what we are talking about here. Instead, what we have is a giant sucking sound, which is dollars being wasted stupid stuff and diverted from real innovation.

Legislative and regulatory changes are long past due.

Has it occurred to anyone that Cisco is getting sued because they have a big appetite for other’s patent property and a big ego that gets in the way of acquiring the rights to the patent properties they need to succeed in the market?

Could the reason that Cisco has seen its litigation increase by an order of magnitude be that they are taking liberties with an increasing number of other’s patent properties?

Have you considered that Cisco gets sued after they have refused a legitimate offer for a license?

Is it possible that Cisco’s entitlement mentality has led them down the wrong path, a path where greed and ego trumps ethics?

Or have you considered that Cisco’s membership in the Coalition for Patent fairness and PIRACY, aka. the Piracy Coalition is a good indication that birds of a feather do flock together?

Some companies start as inventors, and some start as parasites on those who have invented. I believe that Cisco is a parasite.

Eventually they end up alike, one group never being inventive and the second losing the ability to invent as they age. Both will try to substitute quantity in patent filing for the quality of inventions they are incapable of producing. It does not work.

All Piracy Coalition members fit one of these profiles. Tech companies who are past their prime, insurance and banking collectively have no shame!

What they very good at producing is innovative media hype which obfuscates the reality of their existence. Their multi-million dollar “troll” campaign is a perfect example of this. They paint their victims as “trolls” while the courts are finding their conduct so egregious that they are handing down staggering judgments which are generally being upheld by higher courts. This is what happens to those who are caught lying, cheating, and stealing and no amount of public relations painting their victims as evil “trolls” can change the facts of these cases.

Personally I think that it is a shame that Piracy Coalition members have failed to learn the lesson that inventors and the courts are teaching. It is all about conducting one’s business in an ethical manner!

Ronald J. Riley,

Speaking only on my own behalf.
Affiliations:
President - (link) - RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director - (link) - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - (link)
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.

Thanks,
Jeanette