[prbuckley]

I very much agree. The ptab is not a bad idea in principle but unfortunately it operates in a way that favors large companies who can use IPR to out spend small inventors instead of paying a fair license. I am experiencing this first hand with a company that approched me to license a patent that I had. I also had a small company making and selling products with our patented technology. Our company was ~1/100th the size of company licensing our patent. A year into our contract the big company decide it wanted out of the license and has been using the IPR process as a threat and leverage point to try and not pay the agreed royalty. It could cost me 300 to 500k to defend my patents through the IPR process, money I don't have but large company does.

One big problem that never seems to be discussed when talking about the PTAB and IPRs is the collateral damage it causes for small business and small inventors. The big tech companies lobbied to set the rules in their favor. "Patent Trolls" are not the problem they are a symptom of a different more fundamental problem. If you are a small business owner or small inventor the patent system is to expensive for you to use on an even footing with large companies, so you can be put into a situation where you have to work with a "patent troll" just to have the legal resources to play the game. By the way my company built it's own factory to build our products in the USA. We have since had to close our factory down and let all our employees go becuase we have been unable to protect the unique IP of our product, I know of at least 100 companies using the IP we created, and have 3 patents coveeing. As a small business entrepreneur the patent system and the IPR/ptab system has utterly failed me so far.

Edited for spelling.