Google, Dropbox, Canon and others team up to disarm future patent trolls

[Danuta Diorio]

Patent litigation from non-participating entities (casually known as "patent trolls") is the bane of a technology firm's legal department. Fighting patent lawsuits from firms that subsist completely on licensing and legal action is a frustrating waste of resources, and one that often stifles innovation indirectly. Now, a new partnership between Canon, Dropbox, Google, Asana, SAP and Newegg hopes to cut off would-be patent trolls at the knees. It's called the License on Transfer Network (LOT), and it's a patent-licensing agreement that neuters a patent's potential for litigation before prospective trolls can exploit it.