Mobile Phones and Patent Trolls

"Barely a week goes by without a development, whether it is Apple and Samsung trying to prevent each others' products from going on sale, or Microsoft forcing another handset maker to pay it a licence fee for the alleged use of its technologies in Google's Android software."

Above is a snippet and below is a snippet from BBC News Technology with an article titled:  Can mobile phone innovation survive the patent trolls?
Written By Leo Kelion Technology reporter.  It is a very interesting article.  (thanks npg for sending this)

"So the industry uses the term "non-practicing entity" to refer to organisations that own and license patents without producing goods of their own.

One of the best known is Intellectual Ventures, which has a library of more than 35,000 patents. 

Set up by a former Microsoft executive, Nathan Myhrvold, it recently revealed it has earned over $2 billion through licensing its portfolio to others since 2000."

If the above does not turn your stomach, then you must be a patent troll.