[icebraining]

A company which hold patents without implementing them is basically not following the spirit of the law.

Playing Devil's advocate, what about a company like ARM, which designs and patents new CPU designs and then licenses them to others? We can't claim their patents aren't implemented. Should they be forced to make the CPUs themselves?

And if not, what would prevent NPEs from licensing to one small company and then suing everyone else?

[fzltrp]

> Playing Devil's advocate

Actually you raise a good point. ARM has been always doing that though, they built their own cpus when they started, iirc. That would have large consequences on their current business model, it's true.

> And if not, what would prevent NPEs from licensing to one small company and then suing everyone else?

It's already happening. When one of those company win a lawsuit, it is usually followed by them selling a license to whomever they sued...

Which is the lesser evil? Forcing patent holders into producing practical implementation of their patents, or allowing NPEs to exist?

I guess my idea doesn't really hold waters. Most probably smarter people already have thought about that possibility and saw the issues you hinted at. Oh well.

[prof_hobart]

Who actually produces it (you or a partner) is, at least in my mind, neither here nor there. A huge chunk of manufacturing is outsourced/subcontracted these days anyway, so it's pretty difficult to say who is the actual manufacturer of a product anyway.

The key question for me is the motivation for the patent - did you come up with some novel idea in order to get it manufactured (and are using patent protection primarily to stop someone ripping off your invention), or did you come up with (or buy) an idea and patent it purely in the hope that some other company independently comes up with the same idea and you can then sue them for patent infringement?

[icebraining]

How would motivation be proven in a court?

[prof_hobart]

Not sure - maybe by showing a company that is manufacturing your patented product under licence, or at least by showing your attempts to find a company to do this.