People filing bogus patent lawsuits (aka “patent trolls”) want to take away one of the most effective tools a small business has to fight back without spending millions on legal fees.
This program is called Inter Partes Review (IPR) and is a trial proceeding by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Because small businesses cannot afford costly court and lawyer fees, which run well above $1 million, they often give in to the troll’s extortion and settle out of court. But since its creation in 2012, the IPR program has given small businesses an alternate, more affordable option to fight patent trolls.