Patent disputes have been around since just about forever, but lately there has been a lot of media buzz around the idea of the “Patent Troll,” a person (or shell company) that claims patent infringement damages far beyond a patent’s actual value or contribution to prior art. Patent trolls often do not make or sell goods based on those patents, but instead make money only by threatening or filing lawsuits. Patent laws exist to protect an inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. Issued patents are a form of intellectual property.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his opinion on a patent dispute case from 2006 (eBay Inc v. MercExchange LLC), stated that, “An industry has developed in which firms use patents not as a basis for producing and selling goods but, instead, primarily for obtaining licensing fees.”

Sounds like a heinous, modern-day scourge—but in truth the culpability of the patent troll is rarely a black and white issue, and the patent troll business model is not a new idea by any means. Around the turn of the century, such a person was referred to pejoratively as a “patent shark.”

Thomas Edison was an inventor who in his day had accumulated 2,332 patents for his inventions. Edison made much of his early money strictly from selling patents and licensing fees—money he used to fund his research. Most of those patents were for products Edison never manufactured. Also, Edison dealt with hundreds of patent infringement lawsuits; so, was Edison a patent troll? Probably by today’s standards. But it’s also true that Edison manufactured and sold some of his inventions, including his motion picture camera and phonograph.

During my tenure as trade magazine editor in this industry I’ve seen a number of patent infringement lawsuits, threats of lawsuits, licensing disputes and plain old patent saber-rattling over technologies ranging from wrap film adhesives to dye sublimation inks to printheads and perforated window films.

Patent troll activity has become enough of a concern in the printing industry that a seminar devoted to the the subject (sponsored by the Print Industries of America) was presented at this year's Graph Expo show. The seminar was designed to teach print companies how to protect themselves against lawsuits brought on by patent trolls.

Of course for most of you this is nothing more than an irritating side show—that is, until the day you get a threatening legal letter warning you that unless you pay a licensing fee you must stop using your printer or office scanner, or risk being drawn into a lawsuit. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.