Real Inventors Pay the Price
Companies that turn to patent trolls to attack competitors damage the credibility and effectiveness of the entire patent system. Future reforms and rebuilding efforts become more costly the longer we wait to act.
say these lawsuits slow down innovation and product development
agree it's a problem when companies file lawsuits to block competitors rather than compete
are concerned that unethical behavior by large corporations would go unchecked or be rewarded
Source: Fabrizio Ward Survey, 2025
Innovation Ecosystem in Crisis
The patent system's core mission—incentivizing innovation through intellectual property protection—is at risk as companies weaponize weak patents to eliminate rivals and stifle breakthrough technologies. Patent thickets—overlapping webs of vague, overly broad patents—create legal minefields that enable strategic anticompetitive campaigns designed to eliminate competitive innovation. Every successful elimination of a competitor through patent harassment emboldens more coordinated attacks, creating a compounding crisis where delay makes future solutions dramatically more expensive.
