Patent Trolls
A long standing argument against patents is that they may hinder innovation and give rise to "troll" entities. A holding company, pejoratively known as a "patent troll", owns a portfolio of patents, and sues others for infringement of these patents while doing little to develop the technology itself.
Read more about this topic: Societal Views On Patents
Famous quotes containing the words patent and/or trolls:
“This is the patent age of new inventions
For killing bodies, and for saving souls,
All propagated with the best intentions.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“We took one look round,
Then sank out of sight like trolls underground....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)