Intellectual Property Attorney Joe Hosteny Available for Interviews on the Topic of "PATENT TROLLS"

In a recent article, published in Intellectual Property Today, Chicago attorney Joe Hosteny takes a fresh look at the controversial term, "patent troll." Originally used to refer to companies that buy up patents for the sole purpose of suing other companies for infringing those patents, this term is now too often used – unfairly – to describe independent inventors who have not marketed products based on their ideas. Mr. Hosteny discusses why this is unfair, and gives examples of clients and non-clients alike.

Chicago, Illinois (PRWEB) March 24, 2006 -- In a recently published article, "Patent Trolls – or Not?", Chicago intellectual property litigation attorney and legal columnist Joe Hosteny challenges the current notion that inventors who own patents, but don’t produce products based on their ideas, are “patent trolls,” and therefore to be viewed with suspicion.

“’Patent troll’ is an extremely unfortunate term,” says Mr. Hosteny. He points out that the term was originally used to refer to companies that buy up patents for the sole purpose of suing other companies for infringing those patents. “The problem is that the use of the term has gotten out of hand, especially with the publicity surrounding both the Patent Reform Act of 2005 and the Blackberry lawsuit. As a result of all this negative publicity, the public is confused.”

The reason Mr. Hosteny is troubled by the term, "patent troll," is that he believes it is unfair to independent inventors, many of whom – because they themselves don’t actually market their products – are now being called "trolls." "The truth is, these independent inventors – like the examples I cite in my article – started out with winning ideas they sincerely wanted to see marketed. They simply didn’t have the finances to market their ideas on their own, so they shared them with larger companies, in hopes that the large companies would produce the products. Unfortunately, these large corporations often went on to steal the inventors’ ideas and market products based on those ideas as their own – without giving credit or money to the poor inventor.”

Mr. Hosteny and his partners have spent many years defending independent inventors, whose ideas have been infringed. The firm has a track record of winning large awards and settlements for inventors, sometimes in the range of several millions of dollars.

In “Patent Trolls – or Not?”, Mr. Hosteny tells stories of actual inventors, both non-clients and clients alike – people like client Noel Atkinson, the 1988 inventor of new scanner radios that could operate at higher speeds than any on the market at that time. Atkinson’s idea was stolen by General Research of Electronics (GRE), a Japanese corporation, who had met with the inventor, ostensibly for the purpose of marketing radios based on his ideas. Six years later, Atkinson saw radios on the market exactly like his. With Niro Scavone’s help, he sued, and won a huge judgment against GRE. “Noel Atkinson is just one of many clients our firm has represented, who tried to get larger companies to produce their products, only to have their ideas stolen. But, because these inventors never produced their own inventions, and because the large companies put in the actual work to produce them, our inventor clients are often called ‘trolls.’ This is very unfair.” Several other war stories, similar to Mr. Atkinson’s, are recounted in the article.

Mr. Hosteny’s article also makes reference to Thomas Campana, inventor of the predecessor to the Blackberry, the product so often in the news these days because of the controversial litigation surrounding it. Mr. Hosteny points out that, ironically, Peter Detkin, the man who coined the phrase when he was a spokesperson for Intel Corp., now works for another company, Intellectual Ventures, LLC, that itself is accused of “trolling.” “Recently, Mr. Detkin was interviewed and – to my surprise – was quoted as saying that he now worries –to use his own words – that ‘the term [patent troll has now been used so broadly as to mean any plaintiff you don't like.’ I wonder if Mr. Detkin wishes he had never coined the term.”

Mr. Hosteny has been a partner with the Chicago Intellectual Property litigation firm, Niro, Scavone, Haller and Niro since 1984. A former Assistant US Attorney, his articles have also appeared in other professional publications, in addition to Intellectual Property Today – publications such as The Docket, Corporate Counsel Magazine, American Medical News and Litigation Magazine; and he has also been featured in popular publications, such as Entrepreneur Magazine.

Niro, Scavone, Haller and Niro is one of the best known intellectual property litigation firms nationwide, and one of only a handful of such firms that represents inventors and other clients on a contingent fee basis. The firm has been named several times by the professional publication, IP Worldwide, as one of the top intellectual property litigation firms in the country.

Mr. Hosteny’s column is published in the most recent issue of IP Today, one of the premiere publications for intellectual property attorneys. His monthly column, Litigators’ Corner, has appeared in the publication since 1999.

Mr. Hosteny’s website is www.hosteny.com. You can find this article – and photos of him – on the site as well. He can be reached for interviews by calling Julia Schopick at 708-848-4788.

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