The creator of Priceline, Jay Walker, has become fascinated by patents and patent licensing it seems. He has bought and merged several patent holding (some say patent troll) companies and proposed creation of a new agency called the “United States Patent Utility”. It would act as ASCAP works for copyright protection, charging license fees, negotiating with potential users and presumably sending cease and desist letters to potential infringers.
Will this work because patents have become as narrow as copyrights, and their value is as low? Are patent attorneys or licensing attorneys now irrelevant to patent licensing? Or is the specialization of licensing becoming even more narrow and parochial?
Go to:
Press Release: May 14, 2014, “Board Members Announced for Patent Licensing Entity
[PLI Patent Law Center News, “Jay Walker Licensing Plan Takes Shape”
Shining Law Firm 