BASKING RIDGE, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Verizon has entered into a patent licensing agreement with Google in hopes of heading off patent trolls and unwanted litigation.
Verizon made the announcement Tuesday.
Randal Milch, Verizon’s executive vice president for public policy and general counsel, wrote on its Policy Blog that signing the agreement with Google would lower the risk of “frivolous” patent litigation.
“The Constitution says that the patent system is supposed to ‘promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.’ But in high-tech industries like ours, the patent system can be exploited to get in the way of innovation,” he wrote. “High-tech products can implicate thousands of patents, and when patent litigation takes years, costs millions of dollars, and comes long after innovators have launched new products, the Johnny-come-lately owner of a single patent can threaten an entire innovative ecosystem.
“That’s bad for innovation and bad for American consumers.”
Milch said the agreement should help reduce the supply of patents that so-called trolls can assert against his company.
“We look forward to striking similar deals with other high-tech companies also concerned with the innovation tax that patent trolls often collect,” he said, adding that the agreements aren’t the answer.
“More needs to be done,” he continued, noting the company’s support for patent reform legislation and Congress’ efforts in the coming year to pass a bill.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at patents@legalnewsline.com.