Scott Watkins Quoted on Patent Trolls

Scott Watkins was quoted in Patently Aggressive, an article in the January 2006 Fast Company, discussing whether suing for patent infringement protects inventors or discourages innovation. The article uses a case study of a so-called "patent troll" Forgent Networks, which has upset the software industry by claiming to own a process used in JPEG compression and has sued several companies for damages. Many companies have paid to license the process. 

Commenting on the patent troll label in general, Watkins said, "I always thought 'patent gangster' was more appropriate. It’s the old protection racket." On Forgent's specific lawsuit on the soon-to-expire patent for JPEG technology, Watkins said, "It's a past gravy train, but they're not looking at a future gravy train." 

Read the article here.