In brief: Patent trolls are companies that do not produce any products. Instead, they buy up and hold onto patents solely to sue for profit. It happens constantly, but a Korean publication points out that what we see as trolling is actually a war between rivals waged by proxy. It’s a fascinating viewpoint.
A South Korean company called Mimir IP is suing US memory maker Micron Technology for infringing on its patents. It filed its complaint with the International Trade Commission and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit also names several companies, including Tesla, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, as secondary defendants for their use of Micron components.
The Korea Economic Daily (KED) describes Mimir IP as a non-practicing entity (NPE) – what we call a patent troll. Mimir makes its money by purchasing patents and then turning a profit by suing companies using the patented device or technology.
In May alone, Mimir bought about 1,500 patents from SK Hynix. The company wasted no time filing a lawsuit using six involving
Patent troll files $480 million infringement lawsuit against Micron Technology in apparent
