| Patent trolls are in my top 3 list of most despised
entities. Its the whole hypocrisy of their
way of living, cobbled together with their
parasitic nature. Some years ago, worked for a US based startup that went public. When they got to a valuation of around 1 billion, they got hit by a patent troll. Completely bogus claim,
but at the time the CEO just decided to settle and avoid the risks and financial stress of prolonged litigation. As you stated you are a small business I would start by
doing the following four things : 1) Read the Wikipedia pages about these morons. It is
a good overview of what you are up against: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll
2) This network claims to have helped small business owners.
Not sure if its the case but worth checking out: https://lotnet.com/
3) Some of the recommendations here, are worth
checking out as part of your check list:"How to Fight--and Win--Against Patent Trolls" https://www.inc.com/magazine/202004/minda-zetlin/patent-trol... 4) Respond only through an attorney. Also as stated in the article above, only agree to talk
to lawyers where the initial consultation is
free of charge. I have no affiliation with this
company but you might want to start your search here:
https://www.priorilegal.com/intellectual-property/patent/patent-trolls
At extreme case, consider closing the company and incorporating in Europe. It will probably change
in a few years, but for the moment, litigation is
cheaper and courts have a lot more common sense.Good luck and remember ... IANAL |